The Pros and Cons of slipping up

So I was trucking along very well with 18 days of no playing the machines.

While on holidays I slipped up, I have to admit deliberately, and spent time playing them. On the plus side, I won quite a bit.

On the minus side, today I did it again and lost quite a bit.

I am we'll and truly in front for the weekend but today's events have proven to me that I must return to banning myself from the machines.

It makes sense. I was going great for the almost three weeks and that proves to me that I can do it. I'm best to stick to the races when it comes to gambling.

I learnt a lesson that could have been a lot more costly.

Seventeen and counting

I'm almost up to three weeks now on the Challenge and all is going well.
I find it amazing and awesome that something as simple as a little 'challenge' has been enough to get me out of the habit that had been troubling me.
I don't pretend I have won the battle yet but after 17 days I'd have to say I'm getting on top.
I've been away a bit and am going away again shortly but after that I should get a bit more consistent with posting and resume the movie reviews.

One week down

So it has been seven days since I undertook the challenge to go 100 days without playing the machines.

So far so good.

It hasn't been easy but it also hasn't been super hard. Occasionally I'll consider it then i'll correct myself and think about better ways to use my money.

The 100 Day Challenge

It's time to get serious and beat this troubling habit I've developed when it comes to the poker machines.
How and why it started doesn't matter, it was pretty innocuous, but what does matter is that is has reached a stage where it could be a big problem if I continue down the path I seem to be headed.
So I came across the 100 Day Challenge - a goal to set and commit to not gambling on the machines for 100 days.
By then the habit should be broken and while I don't pretend it will be easy it's great to have a goal to work towards.
100 days is a long time and it isn't a long time - if you know what I mean.
It's important to me to be able to win the mental battle here because there are bigger battles up ahead.
Yes, I have a problem. This is the first step on the way to beating it.
Wish me luck.

Easier said than done

It seems that instigating change isn't so easy.
I failed badly at trying to curb the gambling issue that I was having and it cost me a bit more than I'd like to admit publicly. But, if there is a positive, it has forced me into a retreat and I've stopped all forms of gambling for the time being.
That should right that ship.
Other areas are now at the forefront, most alarmingly my battle with health related anxiety.
Even though I thought I'd learned how to deal with things it seems that I haven't. If anything I've reacted worse to some issues than ever before and it is a real concern.
There are other activities that I'm not sure are doing me any good, long term, either but I reckon they are replacements for 'real life' things that either I'm not ready for or am too scared to have a shot at.
Is that what it all comes down to - fear?

Oz The Great and Powerful

I'm not a fan of unnecessary sequels, so imagine how I feel about unnecessary prequels! Well, Oz The Great and Powerful is definitely an unnecessary predecessor to a timeless classic, The Wizard Of Oz.
Before I discuss the film, it's worth thinking about the merits of it first.
Consider this, Oz and all its characters exist only in the imagination of Dorothy Gale thanks to being knocked out during a tornado. Only then was she transported to this wonderful, colourful land.
So then, how can we have a prequel to a dream when Oz is only a figment of Dorothy's imagination. What they are asking you to do is buy that the Wizard was transported to Oz well before Dorothy was born by a similar tornado journey. Please.
That aside, we have Oscar Diggs (James Franco) who is a small time Kansas magician and con man. He's sent to Oz in a balloon trying to escape from carnival people who have caught up on his dallying with women.
When he arrives he is met by Theodora (Mila Kunis), a witch whose motives are unclear but who falls for the man she proclaims the wizard who was prophesied to arrive and save Oz.
Along the way to the Emerald City, Oz comes across Finley (Zach Braff) a monkey (who looks a lot more like the winged monkeys in the Wiazard of Oz than the actual bad monkeys in this one) who pledges himself to a life of servitude for being saved.
On arrival at the city we meet Evanora (Rachel Weisz), Theodora's sister, who quickly shows her evil side in sending Oz to kill the 'wicked witch' after promising all the riches of Oz to him when he takes the throne as Wizard.
This wicked witch is Glinda (Michelle Williams) who we all know to be the good witch of the north.
Anyway, there's also a china doll character that comes along for the ride in one of a few tie ins between Kansas and Oz similar to what you see in the original.
The first thing you notice about Oz is that its been given an overdose of CGI. It just looks far too over the top. Also, we don't see any ruby slippers (apparently due to a copyright issue) that the wicked witch of the east possess.
There's pretty much just one song and Oz cuts the munchkins off half way through, the makers obviously weren't looking for a musical, and as much as I like him James Franco might have been miscast.
The witches are excellent, Finley is great comic relief at times but overall it has all the hallmarks of an unnecessary prequel, particularly since it is not allowed to be linked to the original.
Probably because The Wizard Of Oz is such a great film it's hard to get into this overproduced, overly long and virtually soulless movie. Ironically, it's saved by the witches and that's largely why I went 6 out of 10.
Maybe they should have done a movie version of Wicked instead, I didn't need to know how an imaginary wizard, who couldn't have been in Oz in a world without Dorothy, made it to an imaginary land.
But maybe I overthought it...

Psychobabble

It's been a while since I last posted anything but that's largely from a desire to take a break and decide whether I want to keep doing this.
I've decided that I do.
In the past couple of months I've given a lot of thought to where I'm heading in life.
I know it's a big question to ask yourself, I don't know how many people consciously do it though I suspect many do.
Aside from the larger topics of work, happiness or contentment, relationships I've decided that I must place a larger emphasis on health, specifically, exercise and fitness.
I don't think I'm ever going to reach the stage where I'm considered 'buff, athletic or even toned' but so long as I feel comfortable (as opposed to uncomfortable at the moment) with my physical appearance then I'll be happy.
In many ways I am more comfortable with myself than I have ever been but what has crept up on me, and I have alluded to it now and then, is the fact that a bit of weight has crept on and I have reached a stage where it is noticeable and uncomfortable. (You know, your clothes don't fit quite as well etc).
For other health reasons, I have always feared losing weight. As silly as that may sound it is completely true.
I've paid little attention to the fact that I've put on weight in the past 12 months or so because it has never worried me, whereas losing it has.
(If you really want to know why feel free to ask but trust me it's a legitimate, if not completely logical, fear).
Now I must push past the psychobabble and actually drop some weight. And that, if you've ever had weight issues, is something that is not as easy as it sounds, despite the prevalence of weight loss shows and fad diets these days.
I should know, I've done it once before and it is as simple as this - move more, eat less.
While the philosophy is simple, the practice isn't because it involves changing habits that you have slipped into. It means making sure you go for a decent walk every day and being more conscious about the amounts of food you eat as well as what you eat.
I can't just go running to the gym because whenever I go there I tend to wind up injuring myself of overdoing it. So the plan at the moment is to make the lighter exercise a habit, a consistent part of life, again and start to feel the difference. Then I'll know it is time to start going to the gym again to build on it.
For my height, a weight of around 90-95kg would be considered pretty well in the healthy range. It will take a while to reach that I think - while I won't divulge my current weight here I'll say that I certainly don't need to lose 20kg to make that mark.
I actually must stay off the scales for a little while, and you shouldn't weigh yourself every day anyway.
I have made a start. I had a good walk on Saturday and Tuesday and today (Wednesday). I was out out of town on Sunday and Monday but I spent a good portion of that on my feet (though did attend a dinner and lunch so that probably cancels itself out).
Hopefully within a couple of months I'll start to see a difference. A few weeks would be a good encouragement but it is something that takes time. Wish me luck!