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Talk to Frank

How to Design Cities for People Instead of Cars | Slideshows

How to Design Cities for People Instead of Cars | Slideshows

MIND-BRAIN INTERACTION: MENTALISM, YES; DUALISM, NO

MIND-BRAIN INTERACTION: MENTALISM, YES; DUALISM, NO

Roger Wolcott Sperry

Roger Wolcott Sperry - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: "In his Nobel-winning work, Sperry tested ten patients who had undergone an operation developed in 1940 by William Van Wagenen, a neurosurgeon in Rochester, NY [1]. The surgery, designed to treat epileptics with intractable grand mal seizures, involves severing the corpus callosum, the area of the brain used to transfer signals between the right and left hemispheres. Sperry and his colleagues tested these patients with tasks that were known to be dependent on specific hemispheres of the brain and demonstrated that the two halves of the brain may each contain consciousness. In his words, each hemisphere is
indeed a conscious system in its own right, perceiving, thinking, remembering, reasoning, willing, and emoting, all at a characteristically human level, and . . . both the left and the right hemisphere may be conscious simultaneously in different, even in mutually conflicting, mental experiences that run along in parallel
—Roger Wolcott Sperry,�1974"

Naan bread

Ingredients
150ml hand-hot milk
2 tsp caster sugar
2 tsp dried active yeast
450g plain flour
0.5 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp vegetable oil, plus a little extra
150ml natural yogurt
1 large egg, lightly beaten

Method
1. Put the milk in a bowl. Add 1 tsp of the sugar, and the yeast. Stir to mix. Set aside for 15-20 minutes or until the yeast has dissolved and the mixture is frothy.

2. Sift the flour, salt and baking powder into a large bowl. Add the remaining 1 tsp sugar, the yeast mixture, 2 tbsp vegetable oil and the yogurt and egg. Mix and form a ball of dough.

3. Empty the ball of dough on to a clean surface and knead it for 10 minutes or more, until it is smooth and satiny. Form into a ball. Pour about 0.25 tsp oil into a large bowl and roll the ball of dough in it. Cover the bowl with a piece of cling film and set aside in a warm, draught-free place for an hour or until the dough has doubled in bulk.

4. Pre-heat your oven to the highest temperature. Put the heaviest baking tray you own to heat in the oven. Pre-heat your grill.

5. Punch down the dough and knead it again. Divide into 6 equal balls. Keep 5 of them covered while you work with the sixth. Roll this ball into a tear-shaped naan, about 25cm in length and about 13cm at its widest. Remove the hot baking tray from the oven and slap the naan on to it. Put it immediately into the oven for 3 minutes. It should puff up. Now place the baking tray and naan under the grill, about 7.5-10cm away from the heat, for about 30 seconds or until the top of the naan browns slightly. Wrap the naan in a clean tea towel. Make all the naans this way and serve hot.

BBC News - Lord Mayor of Leicester apologises for trouser drop

BBC News - Lord Mayor of Leicester apologises for trouser drop: "Leicester's lord mayor has apologised after his trousers fell down during an educational event for schoolchildren."

Six of the most common intuitive errors

Six of the most common intuitive errors:

• inattentional blindness (failing to see things that are in plain sight);
• the belief that our memories are more reliable than they are;
• the tendency to think someone is competent if they are confident;
• the illusion of knowledge (we know much less than we think);
• the assumption that things that occur together must be causally related (think MMR vaccine and autism);
• and the increasingly popular notion that cognitive exercises make us smarter (in fact, physical exercise has a much stronger effect).

Vegan Carrot Cake

Ingredients:

• 2 cups grated carrots
• 1 1/2 cups raisins
• 2 cups water
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 1/2 tsp allspice
• 1/2 tsp cloves
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 cups flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 cup soy milk

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 160 degrees C. In a medium sized saucepan, gently simmer the carrots, raisins, water, and spices for 8-10 minutes. Add the sugar and salt and allow to cook for 2 more minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool completely.
In a large bowl, combine the flour and baking soda. Add the carrot mixture, along with the soy milk, and combine just until mixed.
Lightly grease a 9x9 inch baking pan and pour in the batter. Bake for 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Topping

First make cream cheese:

• 175g/6oz tofu 
• 50g/2oz coconut oil, melted
• 1 tbsp rapeseed oil
• 1 tbsp lime juice
• 1 tbsp agave syrup or maple syrup
• 2 tsp salt

Place all ingredients in a food processor or liquidiser and combine well. Then collect the following:

• 1/2 cup soy margarine
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 tsp lemon juice

Combine the cream cheese and margarine. Slowly add the powdered sugar, then vanilla and lemon juice.

Vegan Lasagna

This was amazingly nice!  Sadly I can't remember exactly how I made it, but I think it was something like this:

1. The mincey layer:

Fry a couple of onions and some garlic in the leftover oil from a jar of sundried tomatoes. Add a packet of Quorn mince and most of a bag of spinach. Cook it all up and then add some salt, pepper and cinnamon, followed by some chopped tomatoes, basil, balsamic vinegar, some mixed nuts and a load of chopped coriander.

2. The funky layer:

Fry some mushrooms and a courgette, also in leftover oil from a jar of sundried tomatoes. Throw in the rest of the spinach, some seeds, a load of mint, a bit of garlic salt, more coriander and some capers.

3. The milky layer:

Make a white sauce in the usual way, using vegan margarine and soya milk.  Add a load of pepper, some garlic salt and some piri piri or something else spicy. 

4. Layering the layers:

Layer the layers, with egg-free lasagna in between.  Pour some soya milk over the top to make sure it's sufficiently liquidy and then cook for half an hour at 200 ºC. Top up with soya milk half way through if required.

Butternut Boats

Ingredients
2 butternut squash
For the sauce:
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 clove garlic, crushed
knob fresh ginger, diced
half a red pepper, diced
half a yellow pepper, diced
150g button mushrooms, sliced
1 tsp dried coriander
pinch paprika
400ml tin of coconut milk
1 tbsp ground almonds

Notes
This is lovely served with new potatoes roasted with olive oil and herbs, and steamed broccoli dressed with a squeeze of fresh lemon.

Method
Cut the squash in half, sprinkle with olive oil and a pinch of dried herbs, and cook in a hot oven for 45 to 60 mins, until soft in middle and browning around the edges.
To make the sauce, gently fry the onion, garlic, ginger and peppers in the olive oil for a couple of mins until starting to soften. Add the mushrooms, turn the heat up and cook until starting to brown. Add the rest of the ingredients, stir well, season to taste and reduce the heat so that it bubbles gently for 20 to 30 mins, stirring occasionally.
To serve, pile the mushroom sauce in the butternut 'boats'.

Goan Tofu Curry

Ingredients
8 oz block of firm tofu cut into 1 cm cubes
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 level tablespoon Dijon mustard
½ teaspoon salt
1 large onion very thinly sliced
About 2 cm of root ginger peeled and finely chopped
4 cloves garlic chopped
½ tablespoon ground coriander
½ tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon turmeric
2 cloves
A pinch of cinnamon
4 ripe tomatoes skinned and chopped
1/3 of a block creamed coconut grated
1 tablespoon tomato puree

Notes
Serve garnished with fresh chopped coriander, basmati rice (try adding a couple of bay leaves and some cardamom seeds to the rice whilst it is cooking) and lots of fresh green salad.

Method
First shallow fry the tofu cubes over a not too high heat until well seared. Then place in a bowl with the vinegar mustard and salt and mix until the tofu is evenly coated.
Put some oil in a pan and over a low heat cook the onions and ginger until the onions become very soft and start to disintegrate. Don't worry if the onions brown a little and start to stick to the bottom of the pan just stir well occasionally. This take time but is worth it for the wonderful sweet flavour you achieve.
Add the garlic and spices and allow to slowly cook for 5 minutes more.
Add the marinated tofu, you will find a lot of the marinade also goes into the pan - this just adds to the flavour. Also add the creamed coconut, chopped tomatoes and tomato puree.
Cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Try to retrieve the 2 cloves before serving as crunching unexpectedly on one of these can be an unpleasant experience.

Carrot Cake-ish

Ingredients
½ mug sultanas
½ mug dates
4 tbsp apple concentrate
3 tbsp sesame oil
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp water
juice of ½ lemon
3 mugs of finely grated carrots
½ mug ground almonds
¾ mug rolled oats
½ mug dessicated coconut
½ mug oatbran

Method
Soak the sultanas and dates in warm water for 10 minutes.
Whizz the sultanas and dates in a food processor along with the apple concentrate, sesame oil, vanilla essence, allspice, cinnamon and water.
Add the lemon juice to the carrots.
Mix the ground almonds, rolled oats, dessicated coconut and oatbran with the sultana mix and the carrot mix and put in a greased tin. Chill for 2 hours and top with dessicated coconut.

Tiffin

Ingredients
8 oz biscuits, crushed (Rich Tea or Ginger)
4 oz vegan marg
1 tbsp golden syrup
1 dessertspoon cocoa
2 dessertspoons drinking chocolate
1 dessertspoon sugar
100g bar of plain vegan chocolate


Method
Melt everything except the biscuits and chocolate gently in a large pan. Take off the heat, add the biscuits and mix well.
Pile the mixture onto a small, greased baking tray and press down firmly with your hands. (If you haven't got a small baking tray, use a standard one but only press the mixture into half of it.)
Melt the chocolate and pour over the top of the cake. Put in a fridge or cool place for one hour to set. Cut into slices to serve.

Chocloate Orange Cake

 8 oz. (200g) plain wholemeal flour

4 oz. (100g) vegan margarine

4 oz. (100g) raw cane sugar

1 tbs syrup

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1/3 pint (175ml) orange juice (or use soya milk)

2 tbsps baking powder

2 tbsps cocoa powder

1 tbsp orange peel, finely grated (or chopped nuts)

Preheat oven to Gas Mark 4 / 180 °C / 350 °F.

Cream together margarine, sugar and syrup. In a jug, stir bicarb. or soda into orange juice and add to bowl. Sift flour, baking powder, cocoa and salt and gradually stir into the bowl. Add orange peel. Spoon the mixture (which will be quite sloppy) into a medium sized square tin. Generously sprinkle the top with more sugar. Bake for about 35-40 minutes, until cooked in the centre. Cool briefly in the tin and then turn out onto a wire rack

Pizza

Pizza Base

1 lb. (450g) plain 85% wholemeal flour

1 sachet dried yeast

2 tbsp. olive oil

½ tsp. salt

6 fl.oz. (150ml) warm water

Put all the ingredients into a bowl and mix into a dough. Add more water or oil if necessary. Knead for 5 minutes to get air into the dough. Put into a bowl and cover with a damp cloth. Leave to rise for about half an hour while you make the topping.

Punch down the dough, roll out into a circle on a baking sheet or pizza dish. 

Topping

1 tin chopped tomatoes

1 or more cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1 small onion

3 tbsp. tomato purée

1 tsp. rosemary

1 tsp. Sage

2 oz. hard vegan cheese (e.g. Scheese, Cheezley etc.)

Your choice of toppings. I recommend: sliced mushrooms, peppers, sweetcorn, olives, artichoke hearts, smoky tofu, vegan meat substitutes such as Cheatin' Ham.

Fry onion until soft and garlic. Add tomatoes, herbs and purée and cook for a few minutes. Add a handful of wholemeal flour if you want to make the sauce thicker.

Spread the sauce over the pizza base. Add toppings and cover with cheese.

Leave the pizza to stand in a warm place for 15 minutes whilst pre-heating the oven.

Bake at Gas Mark 9 / 250 °C / 470 °F for 15-20 minutes.

Chestnut Pie

Ingredients
2 medium potatoes, diced and parboiled
1 red onion, diced
8oz chestnut mushrooms, roughly chopped
1 tin (240g) peeled, cooked chestnuts
1 bottle bitter or ale
Pinch of dried mixed herbs
1 tsp Marmite
3 tsp vegetable bouillon
For the pastry:
6oz self raising flour
3oz vegan margarine
Sesame seeds
Soya milk

Method
Fry the onion in a saucepan with a tablespoon of olive oil until soft.
Add the mushrooms, stir well and cook for a few minutes. Add the potatoes, chestnuts and enough bitter or ale to cover (about 400 ml). Simmer for 5 minutes.
Finally, add the herbs, marmite and bouillon. Season to taste and simmer for a further 5 mins. When done, place the filling in a 7" overproof dish.
Meanwhile make the pastry in the usual way with a dash of cold water and a pinch of salt.
Roughly shape the pastry in your hands and place over the top of the filling. Brush with soya milk and sprinkle with a handful of sesame seeds.
Cook at Gas Mark 7 for approx 30 mins until the pastry is golden brown.

Vegan Wontons

First, make the wrappers:

2 cups plain flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup warm water
Cornflower

 

In a mixing bowl stir together the flour and salt. Slowly stir in the warm water to make a stiff dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 10-15 minutes or until the dough is smooth and elastic. Cover and let rest for 20 minutes.Divide dough into fourths. Roll each fourth into a 12 inch square. Keep remaining dough covered. Ccut the dough into 3 inch squares. To prevent the squares from sticking together, sprinkle with a little cornstarch; stack and refrigerate the skins in a plastic bag.

Then make some sort of filling:

Red pepper and sweet potato?
Or some garlicky stuff?  With some nuts or something?  Whatever, really.

Then cook 'em:


Divide the filling – about 1 tsp per wrapper – into the wrappers.
Fold over and press together and place on a lightly greased baking tray.
Bake at 150 ºC for 10 minutes or until golden brown and crispy.

Sweet potato pasties

8 oz shortcrust pastry (= 1:2 margarine:flour)
1 onion
2 small/medium size sweet potatoes
4 oz frozen peas
½ tsp ginger
½ tsp chilli
¼ tsp turmeric
½ tsp ground cumin
1 tsp coriander
¼ tsp mustard powder
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to Gas Mark 6 / 200 °C. Cut up the sweet potatoes into chunks and boil for around 15 minutes until fairly soft. Dice them.
While they are cooking, make the pastry and leave to stand.
Chop and fry the onion and add ½ tsp ginger; ½ tsp chilli; ¼ tsp turmeric; ½ tsp ground cumin; 1 tsp coriander; ¼ tsp mustard powder, salt and pepper. Add the spices and season to taste with salt and pepper. Cook gently for 4-5 minutes. Allow to cool.
Roll the pastry into 4 circles. Place filling into centre of pastry and fold into a pasty. Brush with soya milk and make a small vent in each one. Bake for 20-30 minutes.

Objects

There's something going on with objects which I haven't fully figured out yet. It seems that perhaps the tendency of people to objectify the material world - by which I mean to compartmentalise it into discrete units (objects) - reached a peak some time around the 1930s and is now declining.
Perhaps this isn't true. But maybe if it is it's because the advent of manufacturing and the creation of lots of man-made objects in the 19th and early 20th centuries led people towards a recognition of the ability to compartmentalise the world in this way (whereas previously the world was just a load of overlapping 'stuff'). Whereas recently with the advent of the digital age we are moving away from that idea - the 'information units as objects' idea and a more encompassing / holistic world-view has led to a more fluid idea of what 'objects' are, and perhaps a feeling that they are less discrete / disconnected.
This occurred to me whilst listening to some swing jazz this morning, where the singer was talking about a number of different fruits. The lyrics implied a strong mental image of what the objects were, in a kind of Aristotelian 'ideal form' sense - something which I found didn't sit easily with me.  My view of what they were seemed kind of more fluid..
I wonder if this makes any sense.

Jasmine Honey Rice

Fry some jasmine rice in loads of garlic, creamed coconut and some herbs.  Add water and honey and a bit of balsamic vinegar and cook until cooked.  Lush.

Unusual vegetable thing with odd rice

Take lots of vegetables.  Make sure you include broccoli, probably some mushrooms and definitely BRUSSELS SPROUTS.  Cook them all in a wok. Throw in a load of grated creamed coconut and a sliced mango. Also an orange.

Meanwhile, fry some dry rice in garlic and whatever herbs you can lay your hands on until it's incredibly hot. Throw in some water and stand back. Let it cook for a while and then add some lime pickle and some mustard. When it's almost cooked add a whole load of frozen peas.

Season the unusual vegetable thing with barbecue sauce and you're good to go.

Spinach and mushroom lasagna

1 big package fresh spinach
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup minced shallots
2 teaspoons minced garlic
3/4 pound portobello mushrooms, stems removed and sliced (about 3 large)
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
4 cups whole milk
1 packet pine nuts
1/8 teaspoon grated nutmeg
2 1/2 cups grated Parmesan
15 ounces fresh ricotta
1 1/2 cups grated Fontina or provolone
1 1/2 cups grated mozzarella
Some lasagna

Cooking Recipe:
Preheat the oven to 160 degrees Celsius, gas 5 or 6-ish.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the spinach and cook for 2 minutes. Drain in a fine mesh strainer, pressing with a large spoon to release as much water as possible. Finely chop and set aside.

In a large skillet, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter over medium-high heat. Add the shallots, most of the pine nuts and the garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the mushrooms, 1/4 teaspoon each of the salt and black pepper, and cook, stirring, until the mushrooms are tender and have given off their liquid, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool.

To make the bechamel sauce, in a large saucepan, melt the remaining 4 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Add the flour and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, to make a light roux, about 2 minutes. Whisking constantly, slowly add the milk and continue to cook, stirring occasionally until thickened, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, the nutmeg, and 1 cup of the Parmesan and cook, stirring, until thickened, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat.

In a bowl, combine the ricotta, fontina, and mozzarella cheeses. Fold in 1/4 cup of the bechamel sauce.

Across the bottom of a deep-dish lasagna pan (13 by 9-inches), spoon enough bechamel sauce to cover (about 1/2 cup). Then add 1/4 of the mushrooms and sprinkle 1/4 of the spinach across. Arrange a layer of lasagna side-by-side across the sauce. Spread another layer of bechamel over the noodles and top with more spinach, mushrooms, and cheese. Repeat layering with sauce, lasagna, spinach, and cheese 2 more times, ending with lasagna on top. Sprinkle the remaining 1 1/2 cups of Parmesan and the pine nuts over the top, cover tightly with aluminum foil, and bake until the pasta is tender and the lasagna is hot and bubbly, about 30 minutes. Uncover and continue baking until golden brown on top, about 10 minutes.

Let rest for 10 to 15 minutes before serving. Serve hot.

Weight testing

This article, from the Press Association, is stupid.

Why is there such a stigma about saying people are overweight?

 

Sporty girl, 5, branded overweight

(UKPA) – 1 hour ago

A mother has criticised health officials who branded her healthy, sporty, five-year-old daughter overweight and at risk of heart disease and cancer.
Lucy Davies's height and weight were measured at school before a letter was sent home saying she was overweight, which had implications on her health and well-being.
The letter said she could be vulnerable to conditions such as high blood pressure, heart disease, Type 2 diabetes and cancer.
The 3ft 9in-tall girl, who weighs 3st 9lb, is 1% outside the healthy category based on her body mass index.
Her mother Susan, 38, said no child of that age should be thinking about their weight or worrying about their appearance.
The mother of four, from Poole, Dorset, said her daughter is always on the go and spends her time doing ballet, cheerleading or on family walks and playing outdoors.
A spokeswoman for NHS Bournemouth and Poole, which carried out the tests, said the results were aimed at parents and were not given to children directly.
Dr Adrian Dawson, director of public health at the trust, said: "We are concerned about the health of our children. If they are overweight, this will cause many problems for them as they grow older and we need to tackle this head-on.
"Parents are the only people who can effect this change in lifestyle through healthy eating, meal-time portion control and daily physical activity. It is right that they are aware of the consequences for their children."
Lucy was tested along with thousands of children as part of the Government's National Child Measurement Programme, which measures height, weight and age, to work out the BMI of children aged four to five and 10 to 11.

Dreams

I was dozing in the morning and was worried I might be oversleeping and be late for work. So I opened one eye and looked at the grandfather clock, which said it was only 6 am. I went back to sleep and woke up with a start ten minutes later thinking, "Wait a second..."

Dreams

I had a dream last night where i was in the army and a load of us were trying to take over an enemy base. everyone had guns + stuff except for me, whose job it was to wear a dinner jacket, sit outside the guard house and sing 'blue moon' in order to pacify the opposition.

Absolutely the best cookies ever

1 cup butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 cups chocolate chips
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups plain flour

Cook for 8 - 10 mins at 175 ºC

Now I Know

No I, now. No I, now.
Aye, no I now.
Eye, no eye now.
Now, now I know now.

Circles

A circle. I am
A circle, I am.

Recursion

To find out what recursion is, proceed as follows:  If you're standing next to Douglas Hofstadter, ask him what recursion is. If you're not, find someone who's standing closer to him than you are, and ask them what recursion is.

Induction

Joke by induction: "If you thought that last joke was funny wait until you hear the next one"

I'm Not Sure What This Is

I'm not sure what this is, this.
This is not what I thought.
I thought perhaps I knew, or I'd know;
But I'm not sure what this is.

It makes me feel a little sad,
A little crazy, a little pain,
A little angry, like I need to get away,
A little lonely, like I don't.

I feel like it's Christmas,
Dark and cold.
Or like the party's here,
But I can't hear.

If I knew what this is, this,
I could fix it, if fixing's needed.
Or I could like this,
If l like.

But unfortunately,
I'm not sure what this is.

Beeees

Two bee-keepers are sat having a drink, discussing their bees. One says to the other, "So, how many hives have you got?". "Ten", he says.  "And how many bees have you got?". "Five thousand". So the first guy does some maths, and thinks to himself, "OK, 500 bees per hive - seems reasonable." He asks the second guy, "And how many bees have you got?". "A million", he says. "I see. And how many hives?". "One.". "Good Lord", he says. "A million bees in one hive?! Aren't they a bit crowded?". And the second guy replies, "Fuck 'em. They're bees."

Skipping

I phoned the council up and asked if I could have a skip in front of my house.  They said, "Do what you want, it's your house."

Competition

"Find a fat girl and start having sex with her.  Then say to her, "You're the fattest girl I've ever seen" and see how long you can stay on."

This joke is an example of exactly the kind of moral depravity which is sending our nation to the dogs.  Despicable.

Optimistic marketing!

Guy outside Liverpool Street station.  Doing his thing, yelling, "Get your evening standard here" etc., whilst ON THE PHONE. Ha.