All of these delve into that uncharted land called how our grey matter works and how we can live better lives by knowing more about it. Each of these books has a delightfully different take on the subject, and "Mind Hacks" itself is full of references for further reading. Is it more than just a co-incidence that these books are all out right now, being talked about, blogged about, and voraciously read? Why this insatiable synchronicity of people wanting to know more about how we are made and how we think?

In more classical studies, "Mind Hacks" would be filed under physical and cultural anthropology. And though you will be introduced to words like limbic, cortex and cerebellum, keeping track of technical medical terms is not essential for understanding and learning much from this book. While it seems written for popular audiences, and uses everyday examples to illustrate how we as human beings tend to think, and why, "Mind Hacks" is helpfully structured to take you just as deep as you want to go.

As to whether the mind can be hacked, just ask a songwriter, movie producer or ad exec; though by "hacks," the authors really mean examples, and there are hundreds. For instance, why do we tend to see faces when we look at clouds? Why do we scrutinize other peoples' faces so intently? Why, if we see six of the same thing, do we tend to see the seventh object as the same, too, even if it isn't? Why do we smell chalk when we think of Dick, Jane, and that "silly, silly Spot?" What do we really find irresistibly interesting and what bores us to death? Did left-handed people evolve differently and why do they have more traffic accidents? Why are some people better at math? Why do sunglasses make the world more interesting visually? (It's all in the mind.) Why do people respond differently to the same instructions? And by implication, what is the best way to design a web page? All of this is covered in "Mind Hacks" including which sectors of the brain are responsible, and how the research was done.

"Mind Hacks" is a good starting place for exploring your mind, partly because it would fit nicely with some of the other books mentioned here and in the book itself, but also because Mind Hacks is at the center of an expanding culture of exploration and investigation of mental phenomena,including blogs about "Mind Hacks" and related phenomena (just technorati "Mind Hacks" for instance.) There are the sites of the book's publisher O'Reilly for starters and a page relating to topics covered in "Mind Hacks" about why posting flickr zeitgeist might be a distraction for people who actually want to read your blog, and there is the excellent "Mind Hacks" blog itself mindhacks.com, which does not seem to be accessible from the O'Reilly site. Both authors have their own blogs - Idiolect by Tom Stafford and Interconnected by Matt Webb.

"Mind Hacks" suggests that you can read it sequentially or dive in randomly.
Either way it is an accessible book about some of the curiously strange ways in which we think, remember, and respond, based on how we evolved and what was then and is now most important to us as biological organisms. Even better, it is totally overflowing with examples and simple exercises -- the "hacks" -- that you can do by yourself or with friends. Better yet, buy the book and give a "Mind Hacks" party! Ask your guests to open the book randomly, exclaim on the particular mental characteristic explained on that page, and then put everyone through the exercise or group discussion implied. Like, "How do you prefer your first cup of morning coffee, and how do you feel if you don't get it that way?" Pavlov got it right more than a hundred years ago.

And speaking of Pavlov's dogs, there is much in "Mind Hacks" to suggest that we humans share many of our emotions, thoughts and feelings with other animals, whose brain structures evolved similarly and whose reactions in research are so similar.

artzen - art culture info expo

ecozen - animals ecology philanthropy

bookzen - literary reviews

Salgado - reviewed by KJR for bookzen

Finally after twenty years, Sebastiao Salgado's images are being published, as described in an excellent article in the New York Times. Considering himself a photojournalist of the world's less fortunate, the Brazilian photographer uses the camera to bring information to others. He says of photography,that it is only a language: what is more important, is what is being discussed. Though Salgado, like Atget, Cartier Bresson, Ansel Adams, Lee Miller, Robert Frank, and Stieglitz, can say this since the language his Leica produces in his hands is highly articulate.

Reportedly, this book Sahel:The End of the Road, was not published earlier because agents and publishers who saw the images were reduced to tears, and felt that no one would want to buy such a book. Salgado, who has taken photos in Vietnam, India and Africa, responded that it is our moral obligation to understand the fate of the others! So much for spin, design over content, ignoring what is really going on, and Fox News. Perhaps, quite tellingly, the book is not being published in the heartland, but by that bastion of eccentricity (thank god!), The University of California Press, as a joint project between the departments of photography and journalism at Berkeley. Not surprisingly those bystanders to the War on Terror, France and Spain thought the book important enough to be published way back in the mid-eighties. (Is there a connection between that event and recent international headlines?)

---------------
The Instituto Terra, a non-profit organization created by Sebastiao Salgado and Lelia Wanick Salgado, proposes a highly innovative approach to Brazil's deforestation crisis.

How to help
--------------

Power: Auction at Bloomberg, Nov 17th 2004 - An auction of
prints by world-class photographers

Mighty names from the world of art and documentary photography have donated 60 power-inspired prints for a charity auction on Wednesday 17 November at the Bloomberg auditorium in the City.

For the second year running, PhotoVoice has invited world-class photographers to contribute to this prestige event whichwill raise money for its projects around the world.

Among the contributors are Sebastiao Salgado, Juergen Teller, Sarah Moon, and Philip Jones Griffiths. Particularly compelling are images of George W. Bush (Larry Downing/ Reuters), Kevin Spacey outside the Old Vic (Nobby Clark) and Yann Arthus Bertrand’s magnificent ariel shot of the Kenyan Savannah. Thomas Hoepker (Magnum Photos) has donated his iconic image of Muhammed Ali from 1966.

Wednesday 17th November 6.30-9pm £10 donation

Bloomberg L.P
39-45 Finsbury Square London EC2A 1PQ

Researching for this post I came across this super page, The Tea Page put together by Kai Birger Nielsen there is a very comprehensive page about Tea in London

Of course Russian President Vladimir Putin drinks tea. I have always wanted a Samovar

The benefits of Green Tea

Don't miss cupoftea.uk.com

There must be a site called tea.co.uk very useful, you can have a tealeaf reading - astro tea

This what we need a nicecupofteaandasitdown.com

It must be teatimeworldwide.com

Tea Quotes

Tea trail: Mad hatters tea party quiz

Boston Tea Party - Eyewitness Account

East India Company

Books about tea

The Tea Act and The Sugar Act

Stash Tea: The History of Tea

Tea Time Places

The Ritz The
funny thing is that the Ritz is owned by the Barclay brothers who live on the island of Brechou
, which is just a few yards from Sark. Dad used to live at the Ritz whilst in London. I had my sixth birthday (tea) party there, it was super fun we all tore around screaming, I wore a red velvet cape with a hood and a white satin lining. I was given a box of jokes and tricks, one of which I played on Dad who wasn't amused! I also remember having tea in the Palm Court, even now the sound of tinkling water from the fountain makes me want to go to the loo. It may be interesting to do a study and compare it to a tea place without the water sounds.
Their website has a Tea page... You can buy a Tea for Two gift voucher, what ever next! ( today it is £68 so hurry ): Booking at least six weeks in advance is absolutely essential. There is a dress code but this should be no problem as you will have six weeks to get ready! Have your hair done, go to fittings, wear in your new shoes and come back from the ends of the earth. The Ritz, London won the 2004 Top London Afternoon Tea Award

Sotheby's

The ideal place for tea their cake is very good. Read Hudson's review.

Twinning's

At the back of the shop there is a small museum, this charts the history of the family, along with some fabulous examples of tea caddies and more unusual items from the world of tea. - How to make a perfect cup of tea

The British Red Cross Open Gardens programme, established over 70 years ago, offers a rare opportunity to explore the secrets of hidden and private gardens not usually open to the public.

The programme has a most impressive list of beautiful gardens of all shapes and sizes throughout the UK. From hills and vales to inner cities, you can find some rare gems in the most unexpected places.

Open your garden
Would you like to open your garden?

Saturday, 18 to Sunday, 19 September 2004 Open House Weekend 2004 The annual highlight of London Open House

Have you ever wondered about the hidden interiors of the buildings you pass every day? Every September the annual Open House London event takes place and this year the dates are 18th + 19th September. Over 500 buildings are opening their doors to everyone and turning the capital into a living architectural exhibition. And it's absolutely free!

Free online search facility To find out about individual buildings by name, architect, area, etc., use the Buildings Search page.

The RSA will be open on Sunday 19th September, opening times 10 to 5pm (last entry 4.30pm).

While The City is home to some of the richest concentrations of businesses in the world, its fringes include some of the most underprivileged boroughs in England.

On Tuesday 19th October at St Paul's Cathedral, The Prince's Trust is holding a special City event that will address this polarisation. Sponsored by Coutts and Co, Bridging the Gap will bring together CEO's and board level Executives of major Blue Chip corporations, key industry leaders and public sector organisations.

Sir David Garrard, Chairman of Minerva Plc and Sponsor of the renowned Business Academy in Bexley, has kindly agreed to address the audience as key speaker on the fundamental wealth/deprivation divide, and will be exploring ways in which City stakeholders can help Bridge The Gap in conjunction with The Prince's Trust.

The evening will begin with an exclusive champagne reception surrounding Nelson's Tomb, and will be followed by a private recital, tour of the cathedral and superb three course dinner.

Booking your place

Tickets for Bridging the Gap are £300 per head. All proceeds will go directly to The Prince's Trust. Through your support we hope to raise a sum that will help us make a significant impact to the skills and employment prospects of disadvantaged young people across London.

To secure your ticket: download the booking form. Print, complete and send it to the address provided no later than October 6th or call Naomi Edler on 020 7382 5137

bloggzen - total immersion blogging
technology innovation

"So after some research into Fish & Chips places - we've chosen the Sea Shell on Lisson Grove as the lcoation of our micro-content dinner in London. It's in Marylebone. Map.

There's a private room downstairs - which will hold 40 people.

The topics under discussion will include:

- Open-Media.org

- FOAFnet.org

- OpenEvents.org

- OpenReviews.org

and other potential efforts around new kinds of micro-content. I've been working
hard to help promulgate these new standards and would appreciate some help!"

Sign-up on Wiki.

artzen - art culture info expo

Would you like to see your ideas about art on the walls of Tate Britain? We're asking visitors to write about any work of art on display at Tate Britain which especially interests them. We'll pick about thirty of the most interesting comments and use them as captions in the gallery.

They will be on view at Tate Britain from 20 September 2004, the start of British Art Week.

Write Your Own Label

The Cholmondeley Ladies circa 1600-10 painting Presented anonymously 1955

According to the inscription (bottom left), this painting shows 'Two Ladies of the Cholmondeley Family, Who were born the same day, Married the same day, And brought to Bed [gave birth] the same day'. To mark this dynastic event, they are formally presented in bed, their babies wrapped in scarlet fabric. Identical at a superficial glance, the lace, jewellery and eye colours of the ladies and infants are in fact carefully differentiated. The format echoes tomb sculpture of the period. The ladies, whose precise identities are unclear, were probably painted by an artist based in Chester, near the Cholmondeley estates.
(From the display caption February 2004)

Note > I am also searching for several valuable family portraits which have dissapeared (they are mine, it's a long story), possibly sold by a dealer to an unsuspecting person or put up for auction with a false provenance. If you have any info I can send photos and a more detailed description. If this leads to anything I shall give you a reward.

One of them is of this chap, although not this actual picture.

Montague Cholmeley (1743-1852)

Also Katharine Cholmeley, full length in a red and blue dress by Lely or Kneller.

A lady with a white feather head ornament.

A lady with a lace collar.

francaiszen - la vie

We at dinnerpoint have done something that we think is pretty unique and groundbreaking. We organize and list online 100s of dinner meetups in cities around the world - for 'in the know' people.

artzen - art culture info expo

Painting Reproduced Courtesy of the Folger Shakespeare Library

The British Library is putting online 93 high-resolution digitised copies of 21 of Shakespeare's plays.via...BBC

British Library - On this site you will find the British Library's 93 copies of the 21 plays by Shakespeare printed in quarto before the theatres were closed in 1642.

Shakespeare Oxford Society - The theory that he was in fact the Earl of Oxford

Project Gutenberg - Download - The Complete Works of William Shakespeare

The Globe Theater

The Royal Shakespeare Company

ecozen - animals ecology philanthropy

On 11 October 2004 an international conference on the theme of 'human progress' will take place at the Royal Albert Hall.

The RSA has unveiled the programme for its international conference, ‘A Day of Inspiration', which will deal with the significant challenges set out in its new manifesto.

The debate will feature a number of high-profile speakers including RSA Fellows and medallists.

Click here to find out more.

I am so pleased that the art world finally appreciates this super artist. It has been embarassing the way in which his work has been scathed at by certain art "experts" over the years. David Ogilvy once said "The consumer isn't stupid she's your wife".

The largest collection of works by the artist Jack Vettriano to go under the hammer has fetched almost £2.7 million. Following fierce bidding, the total of 40 paintings fetched £2.653m at auction. The highest bid was for Mad Dogs, one of his early works, which become the second most expensive Vettriano ever sold...more...via the Scotsman

See the catalogue of Sotheby's annual Scottish sale at Gleneagles in Perthshire.

Much News Is Bad News at Royal Academy By Alan Riding

London - When a museum gets headlines for anything but a new building or a fine exhibition, the usual reason is bad news. So it is with the Royal Academy of Arts.

This year a widely publicized power struggle between two senior staff members suggested a house at war with itself. Then, late in July, the head of the academy's schools was forced to resign for using a secret bank account.

Now the talk in London's art circles is that the Royal Academy has lost its way.........The academy's next big exhibition, "Turks: A Journey of a Thousand Years, 600-1600 AD," opens in January. But "Citizens and Kings: Portraiture in the Age of Goya and David," scheduled for September 2005, has been canceled
because of its expense. Long-term plans for a newly acquired annex, formerly the Museum of Mankind, are also not settled. Some academicians favor creating an architecture museum. Ms. Fitt says the hour calls for prudence...more>>via
NYT

From the 1750s through to the 1820s the RSA encouraged tree planting across the UK. Well over 50 million trees were planted giving rise to many of the woods we enjoy in Britain today.

On the 20th April 2004 the RSA launched a new initiative, working in partnership with the UK's key tree planting organisations, to mark its 250th Anniversary and hopes to plant in excess of 250,000 trees during the next 12 months.

For a donation of £15 the RSA, with its partners, will plant a tree and maintain it until maturity on your behalf.

Now it's speed flatmating By Sam Lyon, Evening Standard You've heard of speed dating. Now welcome to the world of speed flatmating. Anyone who has ever shared a home in the capital will be familiar with the pitfalls of living with a group of complete strangers... The events are being held in different parts of London, so home seekers can meet a string
of people offering rooms in their desired area...

For more info visit speedflatmating.co.uk

NYKRIS have launched pPod - the world's first >iPod based interactive audio service.

pPod combines text, spoken word audio, and music to deliver a guide to London's public loos - truly a convenience for iPod users on the move.

Go to the pPod page and download the 7mb file.

pPod is on the BBC

I found this - The Toilet Museum

If you spent all you money on an i-pod to have a nice pee, you will soon be able to stay at Stelios' new venture the easy Hotel. It should be opening soon. It is going to be very basic, quel
surprise! But it is in a nice area of London not far from Harrods (I remember thier loos used to be very nice. Back in the sixties Mum took off her emerald ring to wash her hands and forgot it on the wash basin. She telephoned the night watchman, who kindly went to look and miraculously it was still there).

The easy Hotel has kind of modular rooms, with at least, a double bed, shower and LOO from £5 a night...