Do the clothes we wear define us?

New work by Simon Bray and Tristan Poyser explores the way in which our clothes shape us, that outer shell we use to accentuate or sometimes hide who we are.

The work, entitled Duality, is formed of diptychs, with each person posed in their own clothing and their work-wear. The aim is to see how a viewer responds to the uniform and how it shapes their perception of that person - how we prejudge based on a uniform or a certain look and style. Of course, what we wear also affects us, our approach and how we feel.



http://www.bbc.com/news/in-pictures-37488811

7,707 years of wisdom from America's centenarians

Photographer Paul Mobley has met countless celebrities over the years, but says he’s never felt more awestruck than when he was shooting centenarians for his latest project. “Every one of them gave me the best advice and it was just basic advice that we’ve all learned but maybe have forgotten about as we’ve gotten older and the world has changed,” the 50-year-old photographer said.

His book, which comes out on October 11th, shares stunning photographs of the elders ― wrinkles and all ― plus their best advice.



http://www.huffingtonpost.in/entry/heres-what-7707-years-of-wisdom-from-americas-centenarians-tell-us_us_57dc4342e4b0071a6e075745

Soda bread

There are 3,000 recipes for soda bread in Ireland. What makes soda bread so charming are the secrets that it conceals...one being that a cross is cut into the top 'to let the fairies out'.

Read about this amazing bread here:


http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20160920-secrets-of-the-soda-bread-masters

Mongolia's 6000-year tradition

Western Mongolia’s Altai region is one the most remote spots on the planet. Few roads traverse this massive area, and the high icy peaks of the Altai Range bordering Mongolia, Kazakhstan, China and Russia form an impenetrable wall that keeps all modern encroachments at bay.

Eagle hunters have been practicing the art of berkutchi across the Central Asian steppe for generations.

An old Kazakh proverb that sums up the hunters’ lives in the wild open spaces of the Altai: “Fast horses and fierce eagles are the wings of the Kazakh people.”



http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20160926-mongolias-6000-year-tradition

Hope once more

The hilltop medieval village of Riace on Italy's south coast was almost a ghost town 15 years ago. Houses were derelict and the local school was near to closing. The village was in danger of becoming extinct as residents disappeared to northern Italy, and abroad, for jobs during the economic boom.

Since then Riace has seen a change in its destiny, by openly welcoming a controlled number of migrants, who live and work as part of the community. This transformation was instigated by the mayor, Domenico Lucano.



http://www.bbc.com/news/in-pictures-37289713

A powerful moment

One powerful moment stood out during Saturday’s dedication of the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

The first black President and the first black First Lady helped Ruth Bonner, the 99-year-old daughter of a man born a slave in Mississippi, ring a bell to open the first national museum of black history.

The bell dates back to the 1880s, but was recently restored and rang again this year for the first time since segregation.



http://www.huffingtonpost.in/entry/ruth-bonner-slave-daughter-museum_us_57e6d472e4b0e80b1ba26222

Meet Zari, the Afghani muppet

Zari is the first and only Afghan Muppet on "Bahgch-e-Simsim," or Sesame Garden -- the Afghan version of popular children's television show "Sesame Street." And when Zari makes an appearance at an orphanage on the outskirts of Kabul, the faces of the children light up in wonder.

The two young women who take turns bringing Zari to life are Shirzad and Sultani.  They felt it was important that the character be a girl, as there are a lot of rules for girls in Afghanistan. "We want to show people that it is not impossible for a girl to do anything she wants."


http://edition.cnn.com/2016/09/22/asia/afghanistan-sesame-street-zari/index.html

I wanted to give the children hope: Aeham Ahmad

The Syrian civil war changed everything: Yarmouk was besieged by the forces of President Bashar al-Assad's regime. Food, water and medicine became scarce, and dodging sniper fire was a daily reality. But even as a humanitarian disaster unfolded around him, Ahmad was driven by an unstoppable passion for music and a desperate desire to "make the children smile again."

So he pushed his piano into the wrecked streets of his hometown and started to play in the rubble.


http://edition.cnn.com/2016/09/22/europe/pianist-of-yarmouk-record-deal/

Leslie Robinson

Leaving a comfortable home and job in the U.S., Leslie Robinson started an animal sanctuary in Tamil Nadu, India. And he has a new family now – with numerous animals, amazing doctors, and many wonderful people as passionate as him.

This is his story of compassion and love.


http://www.thebetterindia.com/68728/arunachala-animal-sanctuary-leslie-robinson-tamil-nadu/?utm_source=The+Better+India+Newsletter&utm_campaign=7f3d139a29-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_cd579275a4-7f3d139a29-74060141

The Sharps

The Rev. Waitstill Sharp and his wife, Martha, could have turned down the request from a senior leader of their faith to leave their children and home in Wellesley, Mass., and head to Prague to aid persecuted people in a country on the brink of Nazi takeover.

Working with various aid networks, the Sharps rescued an estimated 125 people — Jews, political dissidents and others under threat as fascist armies spread across Europe. They also helped get food and other assistance to hundreds more in urgent need.


https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/the-risked-their-lives-to-rescue-hundreds-from-the-nazis-but-no-one-knew-their-story--until-now/2016/09/19/1d9a0d84-79b9-11e6-beac-57a4a412e93a_story.html?wpisrc=nl_rainbow-fbia&wpmm=1

The humble business card

If we’ve all become such ‘digital natives’, why is it still relevant to hand over a piece of card? More than just an exchange of details, business cards help with that crucial positive first impression, act as an ice breaker, grab someone’s attention and even boost your credibility, say experts.

And, the business card is used all over the world. As Sebastian Reiche, IESE Business School says, "The business card exchange itself is a ritual."


http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20160914-how-a-small-yet-mighty-bit-of-paper-can-still-get-you-a-job

The Kung Fu nuns of Nepal

The Druk Gawa Khilwa nunnery in Kathmandu, Nepal.

In 2008, the leader of the 1,000-year-old Drukpa lineage, His Holiness The Gyalwang Drukpa, decided to encourage his nuns to learn self-defence.

His simple motive: to promote gender equality and empower the young women, who mostly come from poor backgrounds in India and Tibet.

Dressed in traditional maroon robes modified in the style of karate uniforms, the nuns’ smiling faces conceal an incredible energy and strength.



http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20160916-the-kung-fu-nuns-of-nepal

It's become a status symbol to be busy

We live in an “infinite world”, says Tony Crabbe, author of the book Busy: How to Thrive in a World of Too Much. There are always more incoming emails, more meetings, more things to read, more ideas to follow up – and digital mobile technology means you can easily crank through a few more to-do list items at home, or on holiday, or at the gym. The result, inevitably, is feeling overwhelmed: we’re each finite human beings, with finite energy and abilities, attempting to get through an infinite amount. We feel a social pressure to “do it all”, at work and at home, but that’s not just really difficult; it’s a mathematical impossibility.

With that kind of time pressure weighing us down, it’s hardly surprising that we live with one eye on the clock. But psychological research demonstrates that this kind of time-awareness actually leads to worse performance (not to mention reduced levels of compassion). So the ironic consequence of the “busy feeling” is that we handle our to-do lists less well than if we weren’t so rushed.


http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20160909-why-you-feel-busy-all-the-time-when-youre-actually-not

I’m so busy… I am so busy…

How did we end up living like this? Why do we do this to ourselves? Why do we do this to our children? When did we forget that we are human beings, not human doings?

How did we create a world in which we have more and more and more to do with less time for leisure, less time for reflection, less time for community, less time to just… be?


http://www.onbeing.org/blog/the-disease-of-being-busy/7023

7 street-side book markets in India

Even as iPads and e-readers become the norm, nothing can quite compete with a good old-fashioned book. That’s why, for book lovers, there is no place as captivating as the local book market where one can while away hours browsing and looking for bargains.

Here is a list of 7 book streets across India where, with a little bit of patience and a lot of bargaining, book lovers can pick up their favourite reads!


http://www.thebetterindia.com/68055/street-book-markets-india/?utm_source=The+Better+India+Newsletter&utm_campaign=0a03c0a434-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_cd579275a4-0a03c0a434-74060141

The black women who helped land a man on the moon

It all started with a mysterious photograph.

What it revealed was a special story: black women living in Jim Crow-era Virginia hired by NASA to do math and research that would launch men into space.

Read about this nearly-forgotten piece of history here:


https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/the-nearly-forgotten-story-of-the-black-women-who-helped-land-a-man-on-the-moon/2016/09/12/95f2d356-7504-11e6-8149-b8d05321db62_story.html

How do you trace ancestors who were slaves?

How easy is it for Americans to find out about ancestors who were slaves?

"It's really hard because your ancestors were listed as property in these deeds, and you can only really guess," says Sharon Morgan, founder of Our Black Ancestry, an organisation that provides advice and material for African-American genealogical research.

Yet, some are determined to keep searching for details in orer to fill in the 'gap' in their family history.


http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-37291230

The world's oldest people face a crisis of culture

Caught between modernity and 20,000 years as hunter-gatherers, the San people sit at a crossroads.

An indigenous people in Southern Africa, they are our oldest human ancestors, DNA testing proving the San are direct descendants of the first Homo sapiens. But today their culture, traditions and heritage are at risk of being lost forever.


http://edition.cnn.com/2016/05/24/travel/basarwa-botswana-culture-crisis/index.html

The homeless Paralympian

George Wyndham is the only Sierra Leonean competing at the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio, but his only home is an office in the national stadium.

He struggles to support himself and relies on the the National Paralympic Committee for his accommodation.

What a brave man!



http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-37300374

A selfless fireman

Twelve-year-old Bipin Ganatra lost his elder brother Narendra to a freak fire on Diwali night. The young boy decided there and then that he would try and save the lives of as many people as he could from fires. Today, at the age of 59, he is not a professional fireman but has fought over 100 fires in the densely populated, chaotic city of Kolkata – working tirelessly to douse flames, rescue people and clean up debris.



http://www.thebetterindia.com/67277/volunteer-firefighter-bipin-ganatra-kolkata/?utm_source=The+Better+India+Newsletter&utm_campaign=2861646f31-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_cd579275a4-2861646f31-74060141

What helped shape the way we talk about tech

Debates rage today about the risks and benefits of modern technology. But the origins of these concerns date back more than a century...


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arthur-molella/1900-worlds-fair-tech_b_11798128.html?utm_hp_ref=world

The people who study the meaning of nonsense

The strange world of wugs, wuwus and gutches can teach us how we learn to speak and where language came from in the first place.

WOW! Need to know this. Check out this link:


http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20160906-the-people-who-study-the-meaning-of-nonsense

Hygge

There are five books on the subject out this autumn:

The Little Book of Hygge by Meik Wiking (subtitled “The Danish way to live well”) - out last week

The Book of Hygge by Louisa Thomsen Brits (subtitled “The Danish art of living well”) - out last month

The Art of Hygge - coming out later this week

A Celebration of Simple Pleasures
&
Living the Danish Way  - both out next month


So what is hygge - pronounced hue-guh?


https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/sep/04/hunting-for-hygge-a-new-ingredient-in-denmarks-recipe-for-happiness

Letter reaches its destination by a hand-drawn map

Rebecca Cathrine Kaadu Ostenfeld was reportedly surprised when a letter was delivered to the horse farm where she lives with her husband and three children near Búðardalur in the west of Iceland.

Instead of a postal address or a recipient's name, the sender had drawn a map of where they believed the farm to be, together with the following, in English:

"Country: Iceland. City: Búðardalur. Name: A horse farm with an Icelandic/Danish couple and three kids and a lot of sheep!"

The sender had also added a further clue to the intended recipient: "the Danish woman works in a supermarket in Búðardalur."



http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-37233913

App developers from the Dharavi slum, Mumbai (Bombay)

Filmmaker Nawneet Ranjan is using PCs and online tutorials to create a new generation of coders in India’s largest slum, Dharavi.

Over the last two-and-a-half years, children trained by Ranjan have developed more than eight apps to tackle a range of social problems. These include apps that address child labour, domestic violence, education of the girl child, and women’s health and well-being.



http://www.thebetterindia.com/66707/dharavi-diary-digital-india-intel-ekuka/?utm_source=The+Better+India+Newsletter&utm_campaign=5fcb645805-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_cd579275a4-5fcb645805-74060141

32 years at McDonald’s

When Freia David began working at McDonald’s through an innovative program to place adults with cognitive disabilities in community jobs, her mother worried. What if the work was too hard? What if she didn’t fit in?

But, for the next 32 years, five days a week, Freia, who has Down Syndrome, spent the lunch rush frying, salting, and boxing fries at the Needham McDonald’s, always arriving an hour early, sometimes dancing in place before the stainless steel Frymaster. On Saturdays, she returns with her mother to eat lunch and see friends, day-off visits filled with hugs and high-fives.

When it was time for her to go, McDonald's sent her off in style...

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2016/08/29/retire/qVU7HV3vbnS65kjqbeZwgI/story.html