Live long and prosper!

Yesterday I accidentally found myself watching the final episode of series five of Game of Thrones. We were at a friend's house in the North East and, after a fine meal at a local Chinese restaurant, we sat down and channel hopped until we found something remotely interesting to watch, a little mindlessly perhaps. I have seen series one to four and read all the books so far. My friend has watched most of series one to five but all in the wrong order and at times she fell asleep half way through some episodes. That alone says something about the television series, does it not? But Sky was re-showing the final episode of series five, prior to beginning series six next week. 

So, anyway, neither my friend nor I was really up to speed with what had gone on in the TV series so far and had a rather silly time explaining to each other who everybody was. Some characters I recognised from earlier series, others I worked out from my knowledge of the books and some we kind of worked out together or made a guess or simply gave up on who a character might possibly be. 

As with earlier series of the programme, I found myself getting frustrated because the storyline varied so much from the books. Entirely different plot lines had appeared for certain characters. Some were in places where they simply did not belong according to the books. Phil commented, when he popped in half way through to see if it was time for Match of the Day yet, that it was like a science fiction story where you have an alternative reality to explore. I just hope that when/if George R.R. Martin ever gets around to writing the final book(s) of the series, he bases his writing on the novels and not on the TV series. 

As the episode ended with the apparent death of Jon Snow - stabbed so many times that he truly had no chance of surviving - my friend's son expressed his hopes that Jon Snow would be revived by the religious magic of one of the other characters: a forlorn hope according to interviews I have read with the actor Kit Harrington. 

On the subject of living to a ripe old age, much is being made of the queen's up-coming ninetieth birthday and what a grand old lady she is: so fit and active, still meeting all her royal commitments and riding a horse and so on. Related to that I found some advice in today's newspaper, an actual paper copy which I read on the train. Here is some of it: 

• It helps to be rich or at any rate to have money in the bank so you don't have to stress about it. As with being happy, having plenty of cash doesn't guarantee it but it does help. I wonder if our modest savings are sufficient. However, I refuse to stress about it. 
• "Stay lean, eat "clean". Avoid processed food, eat little meat and more olive oil, fruit and vegetables; drink good coffee and wine." That's a quotation. Well, we seem to do all of that. 
• Don't smoke. Stay active. All good so far. 
• Motherhood past 40 is apparently a good indicator. Another quotation: "A woman who has a child naturally beyond 40 has a four times greater chance of living to 100 compared with one who does not - a possible indication that her reproductive system is ageing slowly and so the rest of her body is as well." Too late for me to do anything about that. I wonder about those women you read about who have IVF babies when they are in their mid-fifties. Are they trying to cheat fate or does it not count for anything at all? And how does this factor relate to the statistics we read about infertility and the advice to women to have babies before their biological clock ticks away too far? Hmmm! A difficult one. 
• In the end, though, a lot of it comes down to family history. It helps if others in your family have lived to a ripe old age, because having good genes is a good thing. Final quotation: "Between 25% and 30% of longevity is attributable to the quality of your genes." 

 So there it is. Only time will tell.