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Which soccer team comes to your mind when silky, sexy football is mentioned? Sports is one ground that best shows teamwork is important.

Arsenal, also affectionately known as The Gunners, is well known for several things. One of which is the attractive brand of football the club plays. One might wonder how the manager, Arsene Wenger, is able to create such an attacking side with little money to spend on new players. When asked of the secret receipe, Wenger attributes it to teamwork.

Arsenal ex-captain - William Gallas

 Remember William Gallas? He is well known for his public out-burst which often leads to trouble. Recall his public out-burst about his unhappiness in playing as a left side defender for Chelsea. He even threatened to score an own goal to ensure his departure. He played his last game and was swiftly offoaded to Arsenal.

Two years on from the switch to Arsenal, Gallas has not changed in his way of showing displeasure. The most recent famous incident occurred early last year where he criticized his team mates for their individual perfomances. What would you do if you were Wenger? Would you sell Gallas, or just strip him of captaincy and bench him for a few games?

Wenger, understanding that team work is essential, stripped Gallas of his captaincyand deicded to bench him for a couple of matches. This was so even when Arsenal was stuck in a bad run of form.  Realize the importance of team harmony?  

Any disruption due to personal differences ought to be sought out privately or through proper hierarchy to prevent any sort of disunity from happening.

After being removed as captain of the club and benched, Gallas felt very humiliated and left out by the club. From the days when he was at Chelsea, he was a prospective member of Arsenal. He rose up to the role of a captain only a year after he had joined the club. With this disgraced incident, he wanted to leave the club to avoid further embarrassement. A sharp rise and fall of a strong leader.

Any consequence from his public criticism? Surely! Arsenal have gone on to only win 2 out of 6 games in March 2008, the period where Gallas was benched. Every single action and words said have an impact to others.

It is not that every team memeber has to tolerate or suffer in silence. It is the mode of “letting it out” employed that has to be correct. Failure to do so would lead to a destructive force to be hovering over the team.

Would I like Gallas to be in my team? I’d gladly swap him for any primary school kid anytime.

What is a pleasant first impression would you want to have on guys? What are some of the very qualities girls look out for in guys? Many a times, physique play a large role in the initial stages. This is coupled with physical attractiveness in terms of looks.

Many people are aware that looks do count in the very impression created. This has been a marketing strategy that is widely used. Guys are shown to be fit, big and toned. Girls are perfect when they have flat tummy, well toned legs and a hour glass figure.

An image taken from California Fitness website

It has been shown through media everywhere that having a beach body is the ideal shape. The beach body would help to connect and is more lively and fun-filling. I imagine how many people haven fallen for this type of commercialisation. Many a times, we fail to see that this attraction would only last for the beginning period of any relationship. Relationship cannot be based on physical looks alone.

Is it the western culture to perceive having a beach body as wholesome and outgoing? I cannot agree more to this. Westerners, generally excel in sports and have buffer bodies. However, who are the one subscribing to what they preach?

Asians, more often than not, look to the West for ideas. The West is considered to be a bigger brother and mentor to Asians. But notice the celebrities chosen to endorse the various commercial gyms in Singapore. The celebrities are Asian or local. Take for example California Fitness. This fitness company has partnered with international superstars Jackie Chan and basketballer Yao Ming. A not-so-distant star that we have who endorses for True Fitness is Allan Wu.

These people chosen to represent or partner the gyms are definitely well known either in the Asia region or internationally. They are selected because they are sporty and have a good body.

What are the reasons people hit the gym? People with the interest of either burning fats or becoming The Hulk! With common traits and similar goals in mind, it is easy for people to come together and discuss on how they can help one another achieve their goals individually (through a Personal Trainer) or as a group (group exercise, buddies hitting the gym together).

Food for thought, would you want to spend time with people that have so different goals and views from you?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6x2WwIFrKAs

Do you aspire to be a Formula One driver?

Are you low in spirits?

Watch this clip then!

Compliments are always treasured and makes one feel happy. In this case, the student female driver, appears to be nervous in the beginning. I recall the times when I was learning driving. The amount of anxiety I felt when I first laid my hands onto the steering wheel. The amount of pressure is on me when my instructor took his seat in the car and asked me to drive off. Fear was in my eyes.

Are female drivers really that bad? Don’t get me wrong, I’m not here to start a debate. Compliments help to de-stress a person. She is definitely enjoying her drive after the initial phase of feeling nervous. Confidence has been built up during the drive when the driving instructor has been “complimenting” her. The smile on her face coupled with a little swaying of her body says it all.

“Your skill is amazing. You would be a perfect Formula One driver.” I remember my driving instructor saying to me, “You are going to be a hell drvier – F1 driver.”  Its humorous as the producer comes up with the use of sarcasm. The expressions of the driving instructor is well suited to the words he says. It is clear that he is frustrated which is shown through his hand signals. As the saying goes “actions speak louder than words”. I do not beg to differ.

How do we further confirm that the driver is a student? No seasoned driver would brake so hard unnecessarily unless he/she has bribed the tester (I do wonder if it was by wearing hot pants or a sum from the $10m TOTO draw). The jerks as portrayed by the shaking of the camera shot gives viewers the visual effect. More than that, the universally understood ‘L’ sign appears at the rear of the car. If that is not obvious enough, how do you explaining the knocking of the cones?

Minor details have been used meticulously by the producer to dress up the driving instructor such as having a name tag, a Basic Theory book, being older than the lady, wearing spectacles. This is how typically a driving instructor looks like in Singapore. Mind you, they are very cautious in their teaching.

Contrast is interestingly used. Observation is of utmost importance here. It is a classic example of how our speech is betrayed by our actual thoughts and feelings. The eyes and eyebrows don’t lie.

The next time you see your driving instructor complimenting about your driving, think twice about your skills. Is he a jolly good fellow, or a super sarcastic fellow?