Surrender?

What a beautifully uplifting article from NPR about cultural consumption. What I immediately thought: I need to read some Ginsberg.
Enjoy.

Coffee is bad for your marriage?

...Lucky I'm not married. Indeed, The Guardian's Stuart Jefferies is right when he remarks "all in all, the debate reminds me of what Homer once said about alcohol in The Simpsons – that it was "the cause of and solution to all of our problems". Coffee is like that, only more so."
On a related note, does anyone know if it is possible to buy print copies of The Observer in Australia?

IQ.org

My friend has recently introduced me to Julian Assange's now defunct blog.
Interesting reading, its nice to see his opinions of things outside of the Wikileaks saga.
Enjoy.

Coffee coffee coffee

Sorry for my absence of late, having re-entered student life, I've been busy doing (mostly) interesting things. I just couldn't help but share this article with you about coffee.
I read it while sipping on my Obama blend brew from Campos coffee - now my local coffee source. Just like Mr Obama himself, it is indeed smooth and easy to drink.

Enjoy (with a cup of coffee).

Rapture

There is a long running joke I have with a girlfriend that when she becomes a neuroscientist and cures Alzheimer's (her ultimate goal), the ensuing fortune she will amass with allow me to cease work and pursue my creative endeavours while she foots the bill.

May I suggest she acquires this apartment for us/me to live in when this happens?

 She (or anyone else who's interested) can see the full shoot here. 

Yum

Yum.
I love the yellow of this skirt, and teemed with a grey t-shirt it is lovely and casual, but you could dress it up as well.

The Moral Animal

An interesting article from American Prospect magazine concerning BF Skinner, one of the most famous psychologists. Like the author Robert Wright, my at first ardent agreement with Skinners behaviourist theories on human behaviour have waxed and waned due to their reductionist conclusions - though I still admire what Wright refers to as his anti-intellectual intellectualism. As usual, the comments following the article make also make for interesting reading.
Enjoy.

Beanhunter

One thing I prioritise is good coffee - so I was delighted to discover the truly superb Bean Hunter...if you can find a better source of where to get the best coffee I would love to know! Reviews from multiple countries make me wish I had stumbled upon it during my somewhat extensive travels last year. In the case of this excellent website however, better late than never.
Enjoy.

I was born that way

I found this article about the reasons we are liberal or conservative interesting, although maybe more could have been said of those who are politically apathetic. Which kids were they in the playground? Did they suffer both ups and downs in their development that made them decide the path of least resistance was easiest? I admit to my own bias creeping in when when I was horrified at the suggestion that perhaps medicare contributes to increasingly conservative elderly populations. Either way, interesting reading.
Enjoy.

Hip Hip Gin Gin

I have recently become acquainted with the fantastic Hip Hip Gin Gin.
I love her cocktail recipe for a London Special - it is making me so nostalgic for for that great far away city. This is obviously someone who is my kind of fashionista - her post on Zara's seemingly perfect new pair of pumps has made me even more excited for the opening of Zara's flagship store in Sydney this Easter.  What do you think are the chances they will still be in stock?

She has also led me to another fantastic time wasting site, Fashion gone rogue.
Now I can look up all those editorials from Vogue I loved but didn't want to tear out of the magazine.
And some I haven't seen before.

Fantastic, no?

Um...awesome

Yet again the internet has provided me with a little piece of entertainment to waste my time (but is it really time wasting if I am enjoying myself so much?)
Enjoy.

Tea time

A hilarious article from Christopher Hitchens on the correct preparation of a cup of tea. Having lived in Hitchen's homeland, and having struggled with such issues myself in the states (including their equally exasperating inability to make good coffee) it made me smile in recognition.
Enjoy.

Boring books

English Muse has written a list of great "boring" books. Fantastically, I haven't read a single one, although I have a feeling she has hit the mark - being inspired by The Guardian's often amusing Robert Crum. 

I myself have just finished Truman Capote's In Cold Blood, one of the popular penguin series. Despite the unashamedly gory subject matter, I found the book very much enjoyable - surely a sign of great writing as the ending is established at the beginning, yet I was still eager to see the plot unfold. I have recently made the happy and sad discovery that Penguin has released another 75 of their little orange books...one hundred of which currently sit on my shelves (of which I have read about 30 so far). I say happy and sad because now I will be able to add Freud's The Psychology of Love to my bookshelf, but as a new student, the expense of this may mean it takes me some time to accrue the whole collection.

Dorm Room Envy

Although I am not yet to discover whether I have been accepted into a University college this year, I can't help but envy this design-minded college student in the US, who must surely win the 'World's Best Dorm' award. I just wonder if every student budget stretches to Ralph Lauren paint. 

Enjoy. 

Happy New Year

Happy new year dear reader, I hope you have all enjoyed the holiday hiatus as much as I have!
I left the dark and drizzle of London days before airports across Europe were put out of action to return to sunny sweltering Sydney.

I think 2011 will be another fantastic year: coming up on the horizon for me personally are two University degrees, and a change of residence (where to yet, I am not sure!) and while I don't believe in New Years resolutions, I hope this year will be an even bigger and better one for The Go Between. 

Wee Birdy

I am simply in love with the blog Wee Birdy. Like myself the author of this blog covering shopping, books, eating and drinking is a Sydney girl with a passion for London. I only wish I'd stumbled upon her blog sooner as I am also returning to Sydney to live. She puts such care and attention into each post to create a truly beautiful blog.
I saw her photo of a gaytime (an Australian ice cream, below) at the beach and got so homesick!

Oh well, I eagerly await more of her posts on my hometown!
Enjoy.

The pursuit of happiness

A great review from the New York Review of books featuring Exploring Happiness and The Politics of Happiness - written by a husband and wife!
Enjoy.

Road Trip!

Loved Ian Birrell's road trip along the Mississippi in this weeks guardian travel section. Makes me want to rent a mustang and drive through steamy swamps and down to New Orleans while listening to Creedence Clearwater Revival.
One day.

What can you do in twenty five words?

I can post the link to the New Yorker's review of  “Hint Fiction: An Anthology of Stories in 25 Words or Fewer”. That's about it.
Enjoy.

Grilled Cheese Social

A blog dedicated, seemingly, to grilled cheese sandwiches.
....Why have I not found this before? With posts entitled "Cheddar Cheddar Bang Bang" (above) , this is right up my alley. It reminds me of the french toast I recently waxed lyrical about.
Enjoy.

Nerd Boyfriend.

I am loving the photo blog Nerd Boyfriend.
Good for a laugh.
(Except for the young James Spader. Yum.)

Food for thought

This article in The Philosophers Magazine sees Oxford academic Peter Hacker present his ideas on the nature of philosophy and the brain. It made my head spin in parts, but, as with the majority of those who have commented, I don't believe a person can exist without a brain (as Hacker does...read on to find out more).
Enjoy.

Cox, Cookies and Cake

I love the new cupcake store opened in Soho by designer Richard Cox. The cheekily named Cox, Cookies and Cake. Delish.
The black marble interiors and neon signage fit right in with the area's seedier side.

Muji Christmas

I'm consoling myself this week (see previous post re: Mondayitis) with the Muji Christmas catalogue. Few can make alarm clocks and stationary so desirable.
MMMMmmmuji.

Wellcome to the weekend

I had an excellent weekend - despite the cold snap in England - visiting the Wellcome Collection for the first time. For a "free destination for the incurably curious" as it calls itself, it is an amazing place, they even have a Blackwell's bookshop attached!
The High Society exhibit exploring the history of drugs was most interesting.
Sadly, now it is Monday.
Ah, working for the weekend.

Review

This book look great!
Combines history, politics, French intellectualism and China - all interesting topics in my opinion.
Am very much looking forward to catching up with my reading over the holidays.

Does this make you laugh?

...And does it want to make you read The Interrogative Mood: A Novel?
The review in the Guardian is, as with Padgett Powell's novel, written entirely in questions. You can tell, I think, that reviewer Stephen Poole is enjoying himself:
"Am I halfway through this review yet? Is it getting difficult to keep asking questions? Is it getting difficult to keep reading them? Would you like me to stop? Have you, in a curious way, almost forgotten what a simple declarative statement sounds like in your head, its comfortingly parabolic music? Do you feel as though you are talking to a teenager? Or are you fully acclimatised, by now, to the interrogative mood? Do you even like it?"
After reading this, it seems to only proper way to respond to such a book. Perhaps a reminder that often its not the answers we love, but the questions.
Read the full review here.
Enjoy (?)

Mon beau temps de ma vie

I am lusting after this diary from O-check design - isn't in fantastic? Makes me think of myself writing wistful entries about suffering and art and life, sipping an espresso and smoking a gauloise à la Albert Camus.
I think in reality I would more resemble a female version of Jason Schwartzman in Wes Anderson's film Rushmore.
Oh well, we can but dream.

That's my girl!

"Interviewer: How would you handle a situation like the one that just developed in North Korea?
Palin: Well, North Korea, this is stemming from a greater problem, when we're all sitting around asking, 'Oh no, what are we going to do,' and we're not having a lot of faith that the White House is going to come out with a strong enough policy to sanction what it is that North Korea is going to do. So this speaks to a bigger picture that certainly scares me in terms of our national security policy. But obviously, we've got to stand with our North Korean allies – we're bound to by treaty....
Interviewer: South Korean.
Palin: Yes, and we're also bound by prudence to stand with our South Korean allies, yes."

All I can say is, Palin for 2012.
Watch the whole car crash in full slow-mo at The Guardian.