A Phoenix From The Ashes
It was the last place you expect to find it but then again a flea market is a place where you can expect to find the unexpected.
The moment the object caught my eye, I immediately took upon myself to resurrect it. The Yamaha Secret series is really no secret to me, having previously owned an oversize 05 (sold, regrettably) but the one beckoning before me was different in model as well as frame size and material composition that I never knew existed.
In dark-grey charcoal, the frame has a textured matte finish to it, much like fine sandpaper but without an abrasive feel. Heavy, it welds literally like a club and murderous thoughts started to filter through my mind on its usage other than what it was intended for.
I took this cast iron out for a dance or two and I came away convinced this indestructible thing is thing of destruction. Twice it dislodged my opponent’s racquet from his grip. I believe that was possible only because of the ballistic velocity generated by the sheer weight of the racquet, the stiffness of the frame and the re-stringing at 60 lbs tension. This racquet plays like no other in directional placement, i.e. the ball will go in the direction you intended it with little deflection particularly on flat hits. This barbaric relic is to be relished for its precision. It means business. They don’t make racquets like this anymore. Instead, what they have come up with are cluttered with gimmicky or attention-seeking details under the guise of new technologies to cook up a hype, a gigantic PR job.
I have been a user of HH light racquets. The hammer system has its merits in that its heavy tip enables quick racquet head acceleration in serving and, in baseline rallies, one can keep bashing away once the rhythm is established. However, it feels clumsy and cumbersome going to the net because it tends to tilt unless one makes a conscientious effort to 'uphold' it.
In contrast, a HL heavy smaller frame enables the user to charge the net from the baseline without feeling clumsy or crammed in the arm. And in countering a drop shot or a short and slow ball, he could conceal his intention until the last moment or make a quick and sudden change in decision. Narrowed down to one word, it is maneuverability.
This racquet will be my main-stay. After toying with so many racquets, if I have to single out only one characteristic that most affects play, it is stiffness of frame. And I don't think there is any stiffer than 04.
Photo and integrity of Secret-04 secretly plucked from the internet: QUOTE
Yamaha Secret-04 Racquet
Made by Yamaha Mfg. Singapore
New conceptual design makes the difference you can feel.
From Tennis Magazine July 1988:
"Yamaha build the Secret by combining “high resonance” technology with Hi-Modulus graphite which is 25% more rigid than normal graphite. This combination of design and materials enables the Secret to capture and relay more energy to the ball. We are introducing the Secret in just one size. The right size. 100 square inches. And 85% of that is pure sweet spot. In the head and throat areas the Secret gives you ball response that is 70% greater than a conventional racquet. More controlled power than any other racquet."
Secret-04 has a very stiff frame with a flex time comparable to the ball contact time. Which means that it restore the original shape at the time when the ball rebounds. This adds up to 11% to the ball speed (according to Yamaha) and increases the sweet spot size. This model competed directly with another very stiff widebody racquet - the Wilson Profile.
| Tennis Racquet Specification Table |
| Brand: | Yamaha Secret-04 Racquet |
| Short Description: | Players with big ground strokes will appreciate the frame’s solid and predictable performance. Yet it also delivers nice touch on volleys and a comfortable overall playability. Its design and construction make the racquet surprisingly quiet with little shock or vibration. (1988 Tennis Magazine) |
| Head Size: | 100 in2 / 645 cm2 |
| Length: | 27 in / 686 mm |
| Unstrung Weight: | 12.3 oz / 350 g |
| Unstrung Balance: | 6 pts HL / 315 mm |
| Composition: | High Modulus Graphite / Hi-Resonant Frame Design |
| Beam Width: | 25 mm Straight Beam |
| Power Level: | Medium – High |
| Stiffness: | 81 (Very Firm) |
| Swing Type: | Moderate – Fast |
| Swing Weight: | 327 |
| String Pattern: | 16 mains / 18 crosses |
| Grip Type: | Yamaha synthetic grip |
| String Tension: | 50 - 60 lbs / 22.7 – 27.2 kg recommended |
| Tennis Magazine decimal rating system from 1989 playability profile (1 – min / 5 – max) |
| Stiffness: | 5.0 |
| Maneuverability: | 4.3 |
| Ball Control: | 4.5 |
| Vibration Damping: | 4.5 |
Secret-04 racquet became available in the summer of 1988 at $225 retail price.
UNQUOTE
An Approach To Art Appreciation
Wikipedia LinkThe notion that artistic expressions reflect political and social events is no invention of our day. People have always know that images have much to reveal of personal, social, religious and political factors that, on purpose or subconsciously, make their way into the picture and constitute their background. What can be grasped of the background depends by and large on just how well we are able to read it.
One simply cannot rely on one’s good eyes and spontaneous impressions. What we know has to match up with up the artist knew; we have to have, or develop, or develop a certain sense and sensitivity for the force that set into motion and also for the unexpressed aspiration of those long-past times. To comprehend a picture in its past reality and to project its meaning into our own calls for a special skill in putting two and two together, and a readiness to make the right associations.
John the Baptist in the Wilderness
by Geertgen tot Sint Jans
Panel, 42 x 28 cm
Staatliche Museen, Berlin
Take the example of the St John in the Wilderness. Suppose we know nothing of the artist, the world of Christian convictions, and the traditions behind the theme; what can we make out of this picture of saint lost in thought?
Certainly we can describe what we see, give a faithful report of it and all in the right order: a man is seated in the foreground with his cheek resting on one hand; the halo around his head tells us he is a saint. He sits dreaming, thinking, meditating in the loveliest, most subtle, most tenderly green of landscapes, as the sun sets amid the flutter of wings, the piping of birds and the gentle ripping of the brook to which a stag has come down to drink. Behind him a lamb and nothing could be more gentle than a lamb.
The entire situation and scene, looked at with twenty-century eyes, is decidedly unrealistic. Is this a figment of the imagination of a saintly artist? Or it making a concrete statement connected in some way with a particular task set by the artist. The question can only be answered in part because the link between real life and work of art has been forgotten.
The theme of the picture has to do with the pictorial and biblical tradition concerning St. John the Baptist who, as forerunner, prepared the way for Christ as “the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world”. We know then the immediate significance of the lamb in the painting and the saint waiting for the prophecy to come to pass and for the Lamb to come to him for Baptism.
However, curiously, why were John and the Lamb painted in proximity to each other and yet without any immediate significant connection? There is nothing in the picture to reflect the declaration that “Christ must increase and John must decrease”.
According to Wikipedia, the artist belonged to a house of the order of the Knights of Saint John. To know the answer, we need to know more about the Order.
There is another aspect to the painting which is not easy to interpret. As the Bible tells it, John the Baptist was not dweller in a green and fertile land, not did he ever own such lavish drapery. His home was the "voice of one crying in wilderness' for repentance, and he was “clothed with camel’s hair, and with a girdle of a skin about his loins; and he did eat locusts and wild honey”. This contradiction between the miserable circumstance described in biblical and legendary accounts and the ornateness with which artists pictured them is not personal to Geergen. It runs through all the art of the time. As in the late medieval lives of the saints, the poverty of the first Christians we read about in the bible was transformed into something splendid and even lavish. No wonder, then, that in paintings of the time, the birth of Christ in humble manger was transplanted into settings of noble architecture and attended by richly clad witnesses.
The World Has Need of You
click pic to enlargeJonathan Living Seagull & Friend
If it’s ever so small the part you take,
The world has need of you.
Be it big or little the effort you make,
The world has need of you.
If it’s only a thought you give by the way,
If it’s only love’s a word you pause to say,
It’s a part that nobody else can play,
The world has need of you.
By your smile you can change another’s life;
The world has need of you.
By a word you can bring peace out of strife,
The world has need of you.
Then life your head and never say die;
Count every blessing, stop every sigh.
Get busy… don’t let a chance slip by,
The world has need of you.
by Evelyn Whitell
Silly Survey & Smoke Gets In Your Eyes
73% of Singaporeans welcome tourists: surveyBy Wong Siew Ying, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 26 September 2006 1858 hrsA survey of over 900 Singaporeans showed that 73 per cent believe more should be done to encourage tourism, while some find sharing the city a little testing at times.More Singaporeans - some three-quarters of them - also felt tourism brings benefits over costs, compared to respondents in Hong Kong (65%), Thailand (61%) and Indonesia (41%).84 per cent of those surveyed said tourism helps create jobs and lifts the economy while 74 per cent appreciated the increased cultural exchanges.However, nearly a quarter said there is a downside to tourism, including diluting Singapore culture, putting a strain on infrastructure and having too many foreigners around.While most tourists are seen in a positive light by a majority of Singaporeans, some are not.49 per cent of Singaporeans voted mainland Chinese as the least polite visitors followed by those from India (14%) and America (6%).The survey was carried out by global market research company, Synovate. - CNA/ir
What benefit is accrued from conducting such a survey is beyond me. At whose expense was it carried out? Taxpayers?
"74 per cent appreciated the increased cultural exchanges”. Can any person in that percentage enlighten me what cultural exchanges tourists bring with them and what we give them in exchange?
Like everything else clothed as surveys and statistics, it is to be viewed with askance and interpreted according to the eye of the beholder. Depending on their construction and collation, they can do as much to lay bare the essentials as to conceal the real issues. Take, for example, the 3-hour moving PSI reading. By averaging it out over a 3-hour period, it mitigates particularly high reading in the western part of the Island. Looking out of my window, I find it hard to believe that the air quality is still in the moderate range less than 100 meters. The stealthily engulfing mist, seen in the distance, reminds me of a scene of inexplicable fear from the epic movie, The Ten Commandments, - the Passover of the Angel of Death striking all the Egyptian first-borns.
There can be no smoke without fire. Anyone for smoked salmon?
How convenient it is for An Inconvenient Truth to become A Convenient Lie if you know how.
The nostalgia of Jerome Kern's Smoke Gets In Your Eyes:
sung by
The Platters, Margaret Whitingand played by
Verity Thirkettle on Aoyama Monarch Concert Harp
Thinking Outside The Box
From an email:
You are driving down the road in your car on a wild, stormy night, when you pass by a bus stop and you see three people waiting for the bus:
1. An old lady who looks as if she is about to die.
2. An old friend who once saved your life.
3. The perfect partner you have been dreaming about.
Which one would you choose to offer a ride to, knowing that there could
only be one passenger in your car?
Think before you continue reading:
This is a moral/ethical dilemma that was once actually used as part of a job application. You could pick up the old lady, because she is going to die, and thus, you should save her first. Or you could take the old friend because he once saved your life and this would be the perfect chance to pay him back. However, you may never be able to find your perfect mate again.
The candidate who was hired (out of 200 applicants) had no trouble coming up with his answer. He simply answered: "I would give the car keys to my old friend and let him take the lady to the hospital. I would stay behind, and wait for the bus with the partner of my dreams."
1 - First Important Lesson - Cleaning Lady.
During my second month of college, our professor gave us a pop quiz. I was a conscientious student and had breezed through the questions until I read the last one:
"What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?" Surely this was some kind of joke. I had seen the cleaning woman several times. She was tall, dark-haired and in her 50s, but how would I know her name?
I handed in my paper, leaving the last question blank. Just before class ended, one student asked if the last question would count toward our quiz grade. "Absolutely," said the professor. "In your careers, you will meet many people. All are significant. They deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say "hello."
I've never forgotten that lesson. I also learned her name was Dorothy.
2. - Second Important Lesson - Pickup in the Rain
One night, at 11:30 p.m., an older African American woman was standing on the side of an Alabama highway trying to endure a lashing rainstorm. Her car had broken down and she desperately needed a ride. Soaking wet, she decided to flag down the next car.
A young white man stopped to help her, generally unheard of in those conflict-filled 1960s. The man took her to safety, helped her get assistance and put her into a taxicab. She seemed to be in a big hurry, but wrote down his address and thanked him. Seven days went by and a knock came on the man's door. To his surprise, a giant console color TV was delivered to his home. A special note was attached..
It read:
"Thank you so much for assisting me on the highway the other night. The rain drenched not only my clothes, but also my spirits. Then you came along. Because of you, I was able to make it to my dying husband's bedside just before he passed away... God bless you for helping me and unselfishly serving others."
Sincerely,
Mrs. Nat King Cole.
3 - Third Important Lesson - Always remember those who serve.
In the days when an ice cream sundae cost much less, a 10-year-old boy entered a hotel coffee shop and sat at a table. A waitress put a glass of water in front of him.
"How much is an ice cream sundae?" he asked.
"Fifty cents," replied the waitress.
The little boy pulled is hand out of his pocket and studied the coins in it.
"Well, how much is a plain dish of ice cream?" he inquired.
By now more people were waiting for a table and the waitress was growing impatient.
"Thirty-five cents," she brusquely replied.
The little boy again counted his coins. "I'll have the plain ice cream," he said.
The waitress brought the ice cream, put the bill on the table and walked away. The boy finished the ice cream, paid the cashier and left. When the waitress came back, she began to cry as she wiped down the table.
There, placed neatly beside the empty dish, was one quarter, two dimes and five pennies.
You see, he couldn't have the sundae, because he had to have enough left to leave her a tip.
Selections fom the book published by
Argus Communications, Illinois, 1973.
| A winner makes commitments |
| A loser makes promises.
|
| When a winner makes a mistake, he says, "I was wrong." |
| When a loser makes a mistake, he says, "It wasn't my fault." |
| A winner works harder than a loser and has more time. |
| A loser is always "too busy' to do what is necessary. |
| A winner isn't nearly as afraid of losing. |
| as a loser is secretly afraid of winning. |
| A winner goes through a problem. |
| A loser goes around it and never gets past it. |
| A winner knows what to fight for, and what to compromise on. |
| A loser makes compromises on what he shouldn't and fights for what is not worthwhile fighting for. |
| When a winner says, "Let's find out." |
| A loser says, "Nobody knows." |
| A winner shows he’s sorry by making up for it. |
| A loser says, “I’m sorry but does the same thing the next time.” |
| A winner would rather be admired than liked, although he would prefer both. |
| A loser would rather be liked than admired, and is willing to pay the price of mild contempt for it. |
| A winner does what is necessary with good grace, saving his energy for situations where he has a choice. A loser does what is necessary under protest, and has no energy left for moral decisions.
|
| A winner acts the same toward those who can be helpful and those who can be of no help. |
A loser fawns on the powerful and snubs the weak.
|
A winner listens. |
| A loser just waits until it’s his turn to talk. |
| A winner feels strong enough to be gentle. |
| A loser is never gentle – he is either weak or pettily tyrannous by turns. |
| A winner says “There ought to be a better way to do it.” |
| A loser says “That’s the way it’s always been done here.” |
| A winner respects those who are superior to him and tries to learn something from them. |
| A loser resents those who are superior to him and tries to find chinks in their armour. |
| A winner paces himself. |
| A loser has only two speeds – hysterical and lethargical. |
| A winner takes a big problem and separate it into smaller parts sp that it can be more easily manipulated. |
| A loser takes a lot of little problems and rolls them together until they are unsolvable. |
| A winner knows that people will be kind if you give them the chance. |
| A loser feels that people will be unkind if you give them the chance. |
| A winner knows when the price of winning comes too high. |
| A loser is overly eager to win what he cannot handle or keep. |
| A winner focuses. |
| A loser sprays. |
| A winner has a healthy appreciation of his abilities, and a keen awareness of his limitations. |
| A loser is oblivious both of his true abilities and his true limitations. |
| A winner learns from his mistakes. |
| A loser learns only not to make mistakes by not trying anything different. |
| A winner tries never to hurt people and does so only rarely when it serves a higher purpose. |
| A loser never wants to hurt people intentionally, but does so all the time, without even knowing it. |
| A winner is sensitive to the atmosphere around him. |
| A loser is sensitive only to his own feelings. |
| A loser becomes bitter when he’s behind and careless when he’s ahead. |
| A winner keeps his equilibrium no matter which position he happens to find himself in. |
| A loser is afraid to acknowledge his defects to himself or to others. |
| A winner is aware that his defects are part of the same central system as his assets, and while he tries to diminish their effect, he never denies their influence. |
| A loser is envious of winners and contemptuous of other losers. |
| A winner judges others only by how well they live up to their own capacities, not by some external scale of worldly success, and can have more respect for a capable shoeshine boy than for a crass opportunist. |
| A loser thinks there are rules for winning and losing. |
| A winner knows that every rule in the book can be broken, except one – be who you are, and become all you were meant to be, which is the only winning game in the world. |
| A loser leans on those stronger than himself and takes out his frustrations on those weaker than himself. |
| A winner learns on himself, and does not feel imposed upon when he is leaned on. |
And above all: 
