Last Updated on November 23, 2022 by Paul Hradek
I recently found out a favourite band of mine were in the UK touring (Soul Asylum) and after realising they only had 2 UK dates left, I debated briefly with myself and then booked up to see them in Bristol. I decided to get a hotel, so once I’d found that, I wandered off to find the venue, and then visited a pub before it all began. I got to see a special three-song acoustic set from lead singer Dave and guitarist Ryan before the main event, which was amazing. I’ve loved the band since 1995, and the album ‘Let Your Dim Light Shine, but most people know them for “Runaway Train” from 1992. But they are so much more than that.
I know most people reading this probably won’t be massive Soul Asylum fans, but I wanted to say that sometimes you just need to take the plunge and do stuff, and have an experience when you can. After all, if we keep putting stuff off and waiting, will we ever do it? Is there something you’ve always wanted to do but never got around to planning? Maybe you should get it booked, as it always helps to have something to look forward to, in these challenging times.
Finally, for today, I wanted to talk about reflexes. I always felt my reflexes weren’t so great in the past, so I’ve been working on improving them over the past few months. The regime basically involves expecting things to fall out of the kitchen cupboard when I open it and then catching them when they do. I also try and copy one of my dogs (Ava) who can catch a cheese in her mouth if I throw it across the room and she had been asleep at the time of throwing. Anyway, this unorthodox brand of reflex training paid off at the end of the Soul Asylum gig when Dave threw his plectrum out into the crowd. I am sure he winked at me before he did it, challenging me to catch it. Using all my training, I leapt out of the crowd, closed my eyes, used the force, and caught it in my left hand! OK OK, I didn’t close my eyes, but I did catch it. (See photo at top of the blog).
It always helps to try and practise stuff you want to get better at. Even a few minutes a day can help and also make you feel better about things. It makes you feel like you’re making progress.
As always, if you want to discuss anything to do with your own habits or anything else please get in touch.
All the best,
Paul