This video is full of so many things that I LOVE! Advertising: good! Dogs: good! Terrible singing voices: good! Every time I watch this I love it more and more. Happy Sunday!
Showing posts with label Happiness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Happiness. Show all posts
6 May 2012
2 December 2011
Caribbean Christmas
This is the first year that I will not be going home to my little island in the sun for Christmas. This year will be new and different and exciting all the same. But there are a few things that I'm certainly going to miss from home. Most of them are food... surprise, surprise. These are the things that define Christmas at home for me.
Mmm... Ponche Crema! This is a little bit like American Eggnog, but very very alcoholic and infinitely more delicious. It is rich and creamy, and with a perfect sprinkling of nutmeg it just tastes like Christmas! You can find a recipe here. I must stress that it wont be any good unless you use a proper West Indian dark rum, preferably Cockspur. Don't even try to use Bacardi! Throw that shit down the drain!
Mmm... Pastelles! So this is a Trini/Venezuelan dish. There is a similar Bajan version called Conkie that you can read about here. Really I prefer the Trini version (and this is the only time you will ever see me admit to anything from Trinidad being better than Barbados). The filling is a mix of meats, heavily spiced and finely minced. It's then covered in a cornmeal casing and wrapped in a Banana leaf. From mid-December to mid-January my family eats these for breakfast at least twice a week. Pastelles really make me feel Christmassy!
Ok, so Cadbury biscuits obviously are not West Indian. Or even very Christmassy for that matter. But this very tin of biscuits means Christmas to me. You see, my family is a bit obsessive about presents. We're all pretty much grown, but still are up before 7 on Christmas morning to see what's under the tree. This means that there is no time at all to make or eat breakfast. Instead, a nice big tin of Cadbury Biscuits gets opened and we all gorge ourselves on chocolate while wrapping paper and ribbon gets torn to shreds!
Mmm... Ham! Turkey is not the holiday meal of choice at home. It's ham. A nice big pig leg, honey glazed, covered in cloves... my mouth is watering just thinking of it. My Dad has one of these electric carving knives that whirs and buzzes as he carves our ham. The noise of the knife plus the smell of the ham is like a magnetic pull to the kitchen. We often eat it faster than he can carve!
Of all the things that mean Christmas to me, of all the delicious things that I love, none compares to my absolute obsession with sorrel. I LOVE sorrel! This beautifully red, fragrant juice is the most wonderful thing that December has to offer. A glass of sorrel with my pastelle in the morning, a vodka-sorrel to match my party dress in the evenings, sorrel-tinis getting mixed up on Christmas Eve... oh my oh my oh my. Many of you know what I'm talking about, but for those of you who have never had the pleasure of this beautiful drink, I cannot even describe to you how nice it is! It's like nothing else I've ever tasted. And if anyone reading this can tell me where I can get sorrel in London you will be my new best friend! Seriously, I'll bake you something delicious.
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| Ponche Crema |
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| Pastelles |
Parang Music
So I really love traditional Christmas songs- Jingle Bells and Let it Snow and all the usuals. But these songs don't really tend to be party songs. No one ever jumped up to the dance floor for Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer. At home we need something to dance to! We always need party music and Parang fills this space for the Christmas season. Most Parang songs, just like Calypso, are filled with suggestion and innuendo. Parang is funny, fun, festive... oh I just love it!
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| Breakfast |
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| Christmas Ham |
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| SORREL! |
If you're looking for more delicious Caribbean eats, head over to Skip to Malou* today for some more perennial dishes!
23 November 2011
Life's a Fillet of Fish... Yes it is!
Here's a video that put a great bit smile on my face.
Kermit the Frog is one of my all time favourite celebrities and probably always will be. He and my Dad share the same Birthday so I kind of feel a special connection to this wonderful green amphibian. Bret McKenzie is also pretty funny. I hope this made you as happy as it made me. Anyone else excited for the Muppets Movie?
Kermit the Frog is one of my all time favourite celebrities and probably always will be. He and my Dad share the same Birthday so I kind of feel a special connection to this wonderful green amphibian. Bret McKenzie is also pretty funny. I hope this made you as happy as it made me. Anyone else excited for the Muppets Movie?
24 October 2011
Warning: Academic Content!
I recently came across this article in the New Left Review: The Political Economy of Unhappiness, by William Davies. So, yes, it is quite academic and intellectual and the writing style isn't exactly light-leisure-reading. That said, it is a relatively easy read and makes some really interesting points. Bare with me. You'll like this, I promise (maybe).
In a very basic summary, the premise for this article is that physical and mental health (or "wellbeing" as Davies says) are economic resources. Why? Well, for starters the annual cost of health related absence from work in the UK is £100 billion. That's a lot of money and a HUGE concern to employers, economists, and policy-makers. If you're sick you can't go to work, and this gives your health an economic value.
Davies discusses a recent shift in the way we understand health and recovery. Whereas the traditional prescription for most illnesses is to rest and let your body recover, research is now showing that going back to work may actually help recovery.
Now here is where it gets interesting. As labour has become more immaterial (we're not putting machines together in factories, we're now putting ideas together in conference rooms), illness has become more immaterial too. We don't suffer from fever and runny noses as much as we suffer from depression and anxiety. Look at this graph; it shows the increasing number of sick days taken on account of mental ailments. 40% of all sick leave in 2007!
Ok, back to the economics! So more and more people are missing work because they are depressed and this is costing employers and costing the government. So now it is a lot easier to get psychological treatment through the NHS in the form of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (apparently CBT tends to be controversial among psychologists but I lack the knowledge to comment on that). Simply put, the government is investing in your mental wellbeing so that you can go to work! In line with this, CBT has also become an important part of programmes for the unemployed.
You've probably noticed a little contradiction here. Work is meant to make us happy and healthy. So why are we increasingly skipping out on work because of unhappiness? Well, this may come as a shock to you, but work isn't the only thing that makes us happy. I know - mind boggling, right? Oh... you're not surprised? Ok then.
Studies repeatedly show that access to public goods makes people happy. Davies gives examples of this research technique that asks people to give a monetary value to social or public goods. For example, how much extra income would you need to maintain your current level of happiness if you, say, couldn't attend concerts? This particular public good happens to be valued at nine grand/year. Personally, I think this kind of methodology is pure genius! It is simply an extension of school-boy bets: "I'll give you £2 to eat a handful of dirt." "No way! I wont do it for less than £5!" Thus, the happiness value of not eating dirt is the equivalent of £5. It is so simple and so effective.
I may think it is great, but the results worry liberal economists. This kind of research ultimately shows that the private income needed to compensate for public goods is very, very high. This means that £1 spent on public goods generates much more happiness than £1 spent privately. The evidence shows that public spending makes us all happy and, therefore, makes us all more able to go to work, be productive, and boost the economy. Neo-classical economists (i.e. those currently making policy) don't like this because they like to argue that public spending is bad. But the evidence is there and they can't ignore it. But as Davies so rightly points out, they don't exactly shout about it:
OR, you could just go the Peanuts-route and simply accept that happiness is a warm blanket.
In a very basic summary, the premise for this article is that physical and mental health (or "wellbeing" as Davies says) are economic resources. Why? Well, for starters the annual cost of health related absence from work in the UK is £100 billion. That's a lot of money and a HUGE concern to employers, economists, and policy-makers. If you're sick you can't go to work, and this gives your health an economic value.
Davies discusses a recent shift in the way we understand health and recovery. Whereas the traditional prescription for most illnesses is to rest and let your body recover, research is now showing that going back to work may actually help recovery.
"...Even where work is primarily physical, medical and economic orthodoxy had underestimated the importance of psychological factors in determining health and productivity. Being at work has the psychological effect of making people believe themselves to be well, which in turn has a positive effect on their physical wellbeing."Essentially, we are likely to recover from illness faster and better at work: Work = Happiness = Health.
Now here is where it gets interesting. As labour has become more immaterial (we're not putting machines together in factories, we're now putting ideas together in conference rooms), illness has become more immaterial too. We don't suffer from fever and runny noses as much as we suffer from depression and anxiety. Look at this graph; it shows the increasing number of sick days taken on account of mental ailments. 40% of all sick leave in 2007!
Ok, back to the economics! So more and more people are missing work because they are depressed and this is costing employers and costing the government. So now it is a lot easier to get psychological treatment through the NHS in the form of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (apparently CBT tends to be controversial among psychologists but I lack the knowledge to comment on that). Simply put, the government is investing in your mental wellbeing so that you can go to work! In line with this, CBT has also become an important part of programmes for the unemployed.
You've probably noticed a little contradiction here. Work is meant to make us happy and healthy. So why are we increasingly skipping out on work because of unhappiness? Well, this may come as a shock to you, but work isn't the only thing that makes us happy. I know - mind boggling, right? Oh... you're not surprised? Ok then.
Studies repeatedly show that access to public goods makes people happy. Davies gives examples of this research technique that asks people to give a monetary value to social or public goods. For example, how much extra income would you need to maintain your current level of happiness if you, say, couldn't attend concerts? This particular public good happens to be valued at nine grand/year. Personally, I think this kind of methodology is pure genius! It is simply an extension of school-boy bets: "I'll give you £2 to eat a handful of dirt." "No way! I wont do it for less than £5!" Thus, the happiness value of not eating dirt is the equivalent of £5. It is so simple and so effective.
I may think it is great, but the results worry liberal economists. This kind of research ultimately shows that the private income needed to compensate for public goods is very, very high. This means that £1 spent on public goods generates much more happiness than £1 spent privately. The evidence shows that public spending makes us all happy and, therefore, makes us all more able to go to work, be productive, and boost the economy. Neo-classical economists (i.e. those currently making policy) don't like this because they like to argue that public spending is bad. But the evidence is there and they can't ignore it. But as Davies so rightly points out, they don't exactly shout about it:
The political ramifications of such a technique have to be carefully concealed by the neo-classical economists currently seeking to introduce it to policy-making. But, arguably, a spectre is haunting liberal economics.You may find the whole idea of trying to value happiness/unhappiness a bit absurd. And I'd say that is a valid opinion to hold. But read this article and you'll see how Davies grapples with the ontology of happiness and unhappiness and looks at the historical relationship between capitalist markets and mental wellbeing. Then you'll begin to see why some people find it so very important to put a price on happiness.
OR, you could just go the Peanuts-route and simply accept that happiness is a warm blanket.
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| Happiness is a Warm Blanket :) |
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