Categories
Memory NLP

My photograph the correct way up, how our brain works



Modified photograph of Phillip Holt

This is the same photograph, but rotated by 180 degrees. See article Does the brain interpret what it sees correctly?
 
Now look at the eyes and mouth, they are up-side-down. I do not look like this in real life.

When you re-look at the first photograph , the picture looks fine, except it is upside down, the face looks acceptable, and yet now you can see it is wrong. Why?

The human brain is very selective in what it takes in, in what it recognises. The brain will break an image into constituent parts, it will go on a transderivational search to make matches on those parts, and then says those are eyes, that is a mouth, and so on, which individually are correct, but as you now you can see are up-side-down or reversed.

Thus, even though the eyes and mouth are doctored on the rotated photograph, so that they are up-side-down, they appear correct to the brain, and the brain accepts it.

Oh Poo Poo ,

Cat on the mat?

The original photographs can be seen here.

    
Original unmodified photograph and modified up-side-down photograph

View article Does the brain interpret what it sees correctly?

Categories
Travels

Morris Dancing in Kingston upon Thames

After a weekend of training, Saturday and Sunday, I find that today is a Bank Holiday in the UK, May Day.

Unlike some countries around the world that have May 1st as the official May Day holiday, the UK stays with allocating the holiday on a Monday.

Having nothing to do except my washing and ironing, and no-one to talk to, I decided to have a walk down into Kingston upon Thames, and I was soon amongst the celebrations and crowds, families, friends, enjoying the shopping and festivities.

One group caught my eye, some dancers.

These dancers are traditional to the UK, and are called Morris Dancers. It is an English Folk dance, usually accompanied by accordion music, with the dancers, again usually dressed in white, wearing bells around their legs, and flowers in their hats.

The dancing itself is very rythmic, and the dancers usually have some implement, sticks, swords etc, that they use in the dance, and is thought to date back to the 15th century.

In this short clip, you can see the OFF-SPRING MORRIS from Kingston upon Thames.

Yes we have some strange customs in the UK.

Categories
Uncategorized

Life goes on

It was only four days ago that I walked down to the River Thames and saw a goose with her new gosling’s sheltering under her feathers, with still more eggs to be hatched. Click to see entry.

Today I walked passed the nest, and they were not there, just goose down feathers and broken eggshells.

I searched for them but found nothing, only some baby wildfowl hiding under the bows of a boat. There was no adult with them, so maybe it was them.

Young wildlife hiding under a boat on the River Thames
Young waterfowl hiding on the River Thames

I looked further up and down the river for any signs of the missing gosling’s, had they swam away, had they been eaten, were they hiding? I could not see a goose with any young.

I did come across a female duck with her ducklings swimming up and down, but the mother had a strange behavior, taking a duckling into her beak and plunging it under water.

Ducklings on the River Thames at Kingston
Ducklings on the River Thames at Kingston

Also there were cooks with their young, both the male and female adults taking turns in feeding their babies.

Baby coots on the River Thames at Kingston
Baby coots on the River Thames

Categories
PhotoReading

PhotoReading Training in Brighton

 The training courses I give, take me to many differing places and countries, staying in a varied array of hotels.

The last two days saw me giving a PhotoReading course in the South of England city of Brighton.

Like many of the UK seaside resorts, they have seen better days, but Brighton is perhaps one of the better placed towns, offering historical places of interests such as The Lanes, the Brighton Pavilion, two piers although one is burnt out, and lots and lots of people enjoying the social and educational facilities.
 
The course was held in the Old Ship Hotel located on the seafront, the creaky floors, and shaking old lifts add to the character of this old hotel. My room overlooked the seafront, giving me the chance of an early morning wake-up call, as the seagulls screech at each other. But why did they turn off the heating at midnight? My room was in the roof space I think, and it became really cold meaning I had to search for more coverings to keep me warm.

The Old Ship Hotel, Brighton.
The Old Ship Hotel, Brighton seafront

The view of Brighton Pier and seafront from the balcony of my room in the Old Ship Hotel    The view of Brighton Pier and seafront from the balcony of my room in the Old Ship Hotel
The view of Brighton Pier and seafront from the balcony of my room in the Old Ship Hotel.



More trainings follow in the next few days, so no rest for me. 

But I love my job, so contact me if you want me to give a course or talk in your country.
Categories
English Sayings Thoughts

I can blow my own trumpet

There is an English saying “they are blowing their own trumpet“.

This saying means that they are boasting or talking about their own abilities, talents, successes and achievements.

So yes I can blow my own trumpet.

I have proof, read the blog, visit my web sites.

Whilst clearing out a storage facility I have been renting to house my old memories, books, toys and more, I came across a very old newspaper cutting dated, October 1963.

In my youth I belonged to a brass band, and was a member of The Boys Brigade, an organisation similar to the Scouts, but we could wear long trousers.
 
My ability to play a brass instrument and especially a trumpet, my own trumpet, meant that on parades, matching through the streets to go to church or chapel, I would be part of the marching band. Our services were always used on Remembrance Sunday, when in the UK and other countries we would march to the War Memorial to remember the fallen. Always a moving experience as we played The Last Post.

Phillip Holt with arrow pointing on parade with the Boys' Brigade
Phillip Holt with arrow pointing on parade with the Boys’ Brigade, hold his trumpet. 1963

The newspaper article says:-

FOUNDERS DAY FOR THE BOYS’ BRIGADE

Character building is the main object of the Boys’ Brigade. This way the theme of a sermon by Cannock Chase Methodist Circuit Superintendent, the Rev. S. C. Challener on Sunday.

He was preaching to three companies who had taken part in a Founders’ Day parade from High Green, Cannock, to Mill Street Methodist Church, Cannock.

The parade, which was headed by the chairman of Cannock Urban Council, Councillor I. J. Jacques and Captain T. Howard of the 1st Chasetown Boys’ Brigade was followed by the 1st Cannock, Chasetown and Lichfield companies.

Altogether 120 youths paid tribute to Sir William A. Smith, who founded th Boys’ Brigade 80 years ago.

On the return march to High Green a salute was taken by Councillor Jacques at Cannock Bandstand.

Categories
Uncategorized

A time away

The month of March was a month of travel and continuous work, no sooner had I finished a course in Southern Turkey then I took the next available flight to Rome, and on arrival immediately started another course. Once finished Rome, it was a drive to Milan for another course, and when that finished catching the next flight to Bahrain to start the next day another course.

It was a woderful journey through Italy, a chance for rest. Or was it?

It was on this journey that I picked-up a bad chest infection, making me cough, giving a runny nose, a tickle at the back of my throat and a voice which was not me.

It would not defeat me, I must do the training, so I pushed through, as we say in the UK, the show must go on. But, by the time I had arrived in Bahrain, it had got really bad, but with luck, I had a doctor on the course who was able to give me antibiotics.

Despite feeling unwell, under the weather, I pushed on, when perhaps the best approach would have been rest.

At night, I found the best way to sleep was sitting up, this seemed to stop the tickling throat and coughing. Not conducive to a good nights sleep.

It was the flying that played the wrong hand. My station tubes or eustachian tubes, became blocked, and with a couple of flights to take, it only got worse. I could not clear the eustachian tubes, it affected my speech, my hearing, my balance. The whole experience made me feel very unwell, down, depressed, and that did not take into consideration the continuing infection.

It has been a month of stress, of aches and pains, of blocked ears, but last week at last the infection was beaten, and now I can get on with life.

That means cleaning, washing and ironing, tidying up, moving my personal possession from one storage area to another, dumping unwanted stuff, planning for the future courses.

Come on world give me your best, I am ready for you.

I am back.

Categories
Travels

Wonderful sunny day

It is wonderful to experience new beginnings, changes, additions, and today has been no exception.

It has been one of the warmest April months in the UK on record, and today as people pounded the streets of London in the London Marathon, I took a more leisurely stroll to the River Thames. (click to see video)

Many people were also of the same mind, perhaps an after lunch walk, a chance to be with friends or family, to take time and see the world go by, a chance to recharge the batteries with energy giving sun rays, or like me to get some exercise.

enjoying the sun overlooking the River Thames, Kingston upon Thames
Crowds enjoying the sun overlooking the River Thames, Kingston upon Thames

We are blessed in Kingston upon Thames to have many wildfowl living on the River Thames, perhaps mostly because people feed them so well.

Not only was it the public who were enjoying the weather, swans preened themselves, as others crowded (click) to have their share of the offerings the public were giving them.

Swans preening on the River Thames, Kingston
Swans preening on the River Thames

It was the goose with her new gosling’s and unhatched eggs which caught my eye, little balls of yellow fluff as two gosling’s sheltered under their mothers wings on a nest of duck down.

gosling enjoying the sun under the its mother
A gosling enjoying the sun under the its mother

Categories
Travels

The Toilet Gallery Kingston upon Thames

Many times over the years living in Kingston upon Thames, I have walked passed the old Empire Theatre opposite to the Wilkinson store, passed a dirty looking alleyway, and paid no attention to what looked to me was a service road to the pub (public house) and the various fast service food shops.


Entrance to the small alleyway to the Toilet Gallery

Other places of interest stand out as I passed them, the Coronation Stone, the Out Of Order falling over telephone boxes, Lovekyn Chapel, and more in Kingston upon Thames, but never the alleyway.

Then I had my Phillip’s Sausage working, and an old white building at the end of the alleyway caught my eye, and a small sign The Toilet Gallery, painted on the wall.


The Toilet Gallery, Kingston upon Thames

The Toilet Galley is a disused ladies only toilet, still having the cubicles and basins, but without the usual fragrance, was opened in 2003 as a place for avant-garde artists to show their work.


Inside the Toilet Gallery

Very small, but enough to show some great works. Well worth a visit for people to support.

Categories
PhotoReading

A recommendation for PhotoReading

It is always good to get feedback from participants as to the content and my performance as the trainer, taking them through NLP, PhotoReading, Speed Reading, Memory, Mind Maps, or Hypnosis.

Here I have a recommendation about PhotoReading for those wanting verification of the value of the course.

A seguire vi e’ una testimonianza  di un corsista, riguardante la Foto Lettura, per coloro i quali richiedono una una verififica su quanto la frequenza al corso possa valere. 

Categories
Eating Out Mind Maps PhotoReading

Real Chocolate Cakes

Today was my special day, although at 95 who cares?

Actually it has been a surprise to me how many people do care with wishes for my birthday I have received from around the world.

Thank you all.

Here in Milan, Italy, I have been conducting a PhotoReading and Mind Map course, It was after lunch that I was greeted with the Happy Birthday song, and taken to the back of the room, to be presented with two chocolate cakes.

Cool.

Two Chocolate Cakes
Two Chocolate Cakes for my birthday 2009

The girls on the PhotoReading and Mind Maps course, Milan        The boys on the PhotoReading and Mind Maps course, Milan
The girls and boys on the PhotoReading and Mind Maps course, Milan 2009