Archive for November, 2010

If the walls outside the Nocturno café in Jerusalem could talk, they’d probably tell you what they already say. The area outside of the coffee shop is peppered with images and slogans that could only be found in Israel: a map of the country with the Palestinian areas removed; a soldier with the slogan “no legs, no problems”; a stencil of the national anthem, with the words changed (“the land of Zion and Jerusalem” has been replaced by “the land of Palestine and Jerusalem”). And, though Nocturno is a favorite hangout for art students from the Bezalel Academy, it’s hardly the only such canvas.

Read the rest of this article on the Tablet Magazine website

Dope = hope?

Last week, the news took on a decidedly trippy tinge. First, Professor David Nutt, sacked as an adviser to the Labour government for criticising its policy on drugs, sparked controversy when he published research suggesting that heroin was less damaging than alcohol. The following day, Californians went to the polls to vote on a proposal to legalise cannabis. In a dramatic move, President Obama and his Attorney General, Eric Holder, threatened to intervene if the outcome was a “yes” (it wasn’t).

It is timely, then, that this Thursday, the Wellcome Trust will open the doors on High Society, an exhibition exploring the history of mind-altering drugs.

Read the rest of this article on the Telegraph website

I have blindfolded my grandmother. She is bent double in the garden, fumbling in the grass for satsumas. In my left hand is a thimble; in my right is a pair of socks. Family members are looking on and cheering.

The game comes courtesy of Parlour Games For The Modern Family, a new book out this week. Written by two Australian mums, Myfanwy Jones and Spiri Tsintziras, who have “four children and 20 nephews and nieces” between them, it seeks to prise us away from the internet and reintroduce the delights of collective silliness.

Read the full article on the Times website (subject to paywall restriction)