Thursday, August 31, 2006

Who wants to live forever?

The other day I was doing some shopping when I walked past a bus shelter. Over here we put ads almost everywhere, so no bus shelter is without one, two or maybe even 3 or 4 ads.

Last week they had put up a new collection and one was very prominently present. It was this Madonna for H&M one! At first I walked just past it, thinking ‘hey, that looks like Madonna for H&M!’ But then I thought ‘No hold on, that cannot be Madonna…..there is no wrinkle on her? So, I retraced my steps and went in for a closer inspection. There was no denying it, it certainly was Madonna, with no wrinkles, smudges or blemishes. Okay, when I looked really close I saw only one tiny line under one of her eyes (good that they left it there, if they had removed that too, she would have looked like a shop dummy) .
Man, how is that possible……she is
48 FGS!! Is this really what 48 looks like these days? Nah, I am not willing to believe that. This is either the work of a Photoshop-pro (can I get his number?) or a amazing plastic surgeon (no, I don’t want his number ;)), what else could it be? Kabbalah and a healthy lifestyle? I am really not sure that they can accomplish that! But there are, however other miracles coming soon! (in a pharmacy near you ;)).

Today I came across this: Live forever. - By Brendan O'Neill

“A Harley St plastic surgeon plans to sell an anti-ageing drug. But do you want to live forever, or perhaps to the ripe old age of 1,000? There was a time when beating biology to become immortal was the stuff of dreams.

Dr Jeya Prakash claims he has reversed the ageing process by injecting himself and his wife with a human growth hormone which has improved their memories and removed wrinkles. He now plans to open a clinic offering the anti-ageing treatment.

For staying young is a fantasy long indulged by navel-gazing billionaires who spend a small fortune to become cryogenically frozen upon death so that they can make a comeback in the future when medical science has moved on.

And it's the stuff of fairytales. Various mythical stories tell of a Fountain of Youth, a mystical spring that grants eternal vitality to all who drink from it.

These are pipe dreams. For most of us getting older, frailer and eventually popping our clogs are simple facts of life.

Now, however, there is a growing band of scientists and philosophers who truly believe that biological boundaries can be pushed back, allowing humans to live to 200, 300, 1,000 and maybe even longer.”

Full story here.

Honestly, I think it’s great if they really invented something that will improve people’s memory and maybe remove a few wrinkles, but do we really want to live for a 1,000 years? That is a mighty long time, isn’t it? Well, I don’t have to worry about that. According to the article, I can count my blessings when I reach the blessed age of 100. But how about you, yeah you younger people, do you want to reach your, for example, 200th birthday? (That must be one gigantic birthday cake, how else are you going to fit 200 candles on there)

10 comments:

Rayya Ghul said...

I can't speak for Madonna, but I am 50 and have virtually no wrinkles. My secret? For years now I have never got a suntan. Wrinkles are almost exclusively sun damage. It wasn't deliberate on my part - I just hate being in the sun and I dislike getting a tan, but now I'm pleased!

Phil said...

I think you'd be surprised how often pictures are airbrushed or altered in come way. I just saw today that there was an promo ad for Katie Couric (an American news celebrity) where they made her look 20 pounds lighter.

As far as living that long. No thank you. I just want to live as long as I am healthy and can enjoy life. But there is no way, even if I was healthy, that I'd want to live to be 200 or more. and just think of trying to buy people that special little gift for their birthdays? I've run out of things already for some people.

Dakota said...

Oh, I totally forgot about that, Snowqueen. I remember your picture now. You’re one of the few fortunate women, I guess. Still I am not willing, call me crazy, to believe that Madonna looks like this in real life.

Hey, I know who Katie is, Phil :) And I do know they airbrush a lot of stuff these days. Anyway, I think it must come as quite a shock to see an altered picture of yourself or someone you know. I certainly would be shocked if they made me 20 pounds lighter…. They would make me anorexic.

I feel the same way as you about living that long. And it’s not only the gift-thing, think about all the birthday parties you would have to go too. Man, the list would go on and on :)

Anonymous said...

I want to live forever. There are so many books to read, so many things to learn, so many places to see...a single mortal lifetime is not sufficient. Sign me up for immortality. (As for the wrinkles, it's a small price to pay for the privilege of living long enough to get them...)

Dakota said...

You do, Lord Hutton? Show me some evidence then……Pictures maestro, please :)

Do you really want to live forever Zoom!? Wow, amazing! You are the first person I’ve met who would really want that. You have an interesting point there….you would be able to travel, read and learn more, but wouldn’t it become kind of boring in the end?

Anonymous said...

Boring? I doubt it. Only if everybody else died and left me all alone. Eventually I would have read all the books, seen all the art, learned all the stuff, and nothing else would be created (except for the stuff I created). So no, I think I would remain endlessly fascinated as long as there were people around to keep creating.

Dakota said...

Well, I don’t think you’ll be left all alone, so there will always be creative people around and new stuff to explore. Okay, you are right, how could it be boring :)

This living for ever made me think though, would you brain be able to store all that info. I mean, it wasn’t meant to go on forever.
Could a brain be full? And what would happen then? Maybe it would overwrite your memory, store info over existing info, so that you couldn’t remember stuff from the early years.……….

Phil said...

Don't take any notice of ads like that Dakota. You are looking at a very well taken, very touched up, 0.000001 of the population here.
I have more than my fair share of 'air brushable bits' and I'm 29. :]

Anonymous said...

Dakota, I should have added my usual qualifier - I want to live forever IF I'm in reasonably good health and my mind is still sharp. In other words, I would require a moratorium on the physical and mental ageing process. I don't want to feel like I'm a thousand years old when I'm a thousand years old!

Dakota said...

I know I shouldn’t take any notice, DoGGa, but sometimes I get very annoyed by these touched-up shots. I am pretty confident and I don’t worry about my looks all that much. Hey, if they don’t like what they see, there is plenty of other stuff (and women) they can look at instead. I do however, worry sometimes about all those women who do take notice and run to the plastic surgeon or have an extreme make-over after seeing things like this.
___________________________________

Zoom! Take no notice of my earlier comment. I was rambling on out loud (well, on screen actually :))

I understand what you mean. What’s the use of getting that old if you have to stay in bed can’t move or can’t remember anything that happened over the last 100 years or so. It’s actually the same as it is now. I would like to get old, but only if I stay in a relatively good shape, mentally and physically.