Learn 5 interesting things about the mysterious islands of Indonesia. From the natural habitat and wildlife to the history and religion, it's all covered here.
In 399BC Socrates was sentenced to death on account of corrupting the youth of Athens. By this, the authorities claimed that he was teaching youths to question what was commonly taught to them about religion, gods and goddesses. This was coming at...
In Scott’s Gladiator much of the film is inaccurate. In fact there is distinctly more fiction than fact. An important thing to think about is what you hope to gain by telling a historical story. Are the audience supposed to learn something from...
A look at Peter Singer's 1971 classic essay, "Famine, Affluence and Morality," as well as criticism by John Arthur and Garrett Hardin.
Apollo is often known as the Sun God or God of Light as well as being the God of Music. This is symbolised by a lyre or kithara which he is often seen playing in large deity scenes. He is often known as the God of Prophecy and is connected with...
Let's discuss the privacy rights of politicians, celebrities, and ordinary people.
Cogito or Cogito ergo sum, is the Latin translation for Descartes famous claim ‘I think therefore I am.’ This is a pivotal part of the argument for existence that he gives in the Meditations. It is the first thing he says we can know...
I think that the most powerful objection to Utilitarianism is the idea that as a theory it doesn’t look at individual people as being unique or take into account personal feelings, for example, that our love for a certain thing might prevent us...
Pablo Picasso was born in 1881 and was baptised Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Martyr Patricio Clito Ruíz y Picasso! That’s right, a 23 word name, named after...
See below for an interview with Riva Shaw! Synopsis Set in the medieval Kingdom of Subia, Circle of Fire is the first part of the Circle of Fire trilogy by Riva Shaw. We meet our hero, Nick Trayer, on the day that he is finally due to marry...
Ethics is becoming increasingly important in almost all disciplines, such as medicine, business, environment and politics. I believe this is partly because technology is advancing in medicine and business, we are beginning to care more about the...
Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden is the story of Chiyo who is taken from the small fishing village where she lives to the Geisha district, Gion. Here she is transformed into the geisha Sayuri.
Book review of Empress Orchid by Anchee Min. Orchid was the last Empress of China and she sees the huge empire collapse around her as she seduces the Emperor, bears his child and tries to get a grasp on the politics surrounding her.
I've been writing book reviews recently and I thought it would be smart to compile a list of all the ones I've done because hopefully I'll eventually produce a huge number of them.
'Life of Pi' is the strange and intriguing story of a sixteen year old boy stuck on a lifeboat with a hyena, zebra, orang-utan and Bengali Tiger. Yann Martel won the Booker Prize in 2002 for this book.
Learn some interesting things about the Impressionist Artists without getting to bogged down in technical artistic language. This focuses more on their lives than analysing their paintings, although I give plenty of my own opinions.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir was born in 25th February 1841 in Limoges in South-West France to a working class family. He painted with Monet amongst others in the Impressionist style for years but then one day began to fear that he had forgotten how to properly paint, so he started focusing more on...
Edgar Degas was born on the 19th July 1834. He lived longer than most of the other Impressionist artists did, dying in 1917 at the age of 83. Degas is particularly well known for his paintings of ballet dancers and racecourses.
Claude Monet, I would say is the most well known and possibly most influencial Impressionist painter. He truly embodies the 'plein air' technique that is one of the main features of Impressionist painting. He painted with Renoir, Van Gogh and Manet to name just a few, as well as painting his future...
Edouard Manet is arguably the first of the Impressionist artists. Over his lifetime his art varied from being highly controversial (at the time) to being widely accepted and glorified by The Parisian Salon.
Learn something new about Vincent Van Gogh. For example, what's the real story behind cutting off his ear? Which painting he sold during his lifetime? Why did so many of his paintings strongly favour a yellow pallette? Who was he closest to? Where do we find out so much about his life?
Learn more about the red eyed tree frog. It's that one that everyone has seen but never really thought much more about. Bright green with striking red eyes and blue and yellow sides!
Dr Temperance Brennan is a forensic anthropologist who works with the Mecklenburg County Medical Examiner in Charlotte, North Carolina (when she’s not working for the University of North Carolina or the Bureau du Coroner in Quebec). When she is...
This four part series follows the life of Temujin as he becomes Genghis Khan, Khan of the Wolves and leader of the entire Mongol Empire, Chin Empire and parts of the Arab Empire.
The Emperor Series by Conn Iggulden is by far the best history books I have ever read and right up there with the best books ever. They are gripping and absorbing and very well written. Following the life and conquests of Julius Caesar.
When Lady Dona St Columb leaves her London life to escape to the country she has no idea how exciting her life is about to get. *May include some spoilers*
‘1688’ is a comprehensive guide to what was going on around the world in 1688. From the plantations of South America to aboriginal Australia to the great pilgrimages to Mecca.
Robert Neville is the only man left fully alive five months after a virus spreads the Earth and turns everyone else into vampires, who are hungry for the blood of the living.
Set in Malta in 1942, we follow the life of Max Chadwick in his new position as Information Officer, sent by the Brits to boost citizen morale as the country is bombed relentlessly by the Nazis.
I saw The Boat That Rocked in April 2009 and fell in love with it immediately. I bought the dvd as soon as it came out and have watched it numerous times since then. I laugh in all the same places and without fail I cry at the end! If you haven't seen it yet, I strongly suggest that you do.
Having spent months looking for a job I have seen that it is common protocol for employers to send out an 'equality and diversity questionnaire' to all potential employees, and I cannot work out why they would need to know all these things about a candidate before they employ them.
It really irritates me when I go to the doctors and they don't know which medication I've taken before or why I'm there (when they asked me to come in). For me personally it's never been a massive problem but for older people or people with major problems, they shouldn't be able to rely on their...
You are never too old to wind up your parents. Trust me. My sister and I have been practising it for years and I would say we are now professionals. So here are some suggestions of things you can do.
I wanted to introduce Tim Minchin to anyone who hasn't heard of him before. Or who knows they have heard of him but don't know where from, or don't know what he sings/does.
Kindle is the latest wireless reading device from Amazon, with a library of over 360,000 books, magazines, newspapers and blogs. It is set to rival (amongst others) Sony’s e-reader and the Barnes and Noble’s Nook. The Kindle is slim and...
When I was asked to write an essay on the meaning of life, I came to the conclusion that there is no reason but rather there is a purpose to life that we bestow upon ourselves and this is most often to be happy.
In so many environments nowadays people have a secret santa so they only have to buy a present for one person, rather than having to buy a present for everyone in their given group. Often you have to buy for someone you don't know well. So these are some ideas for what you could buy for men.
This is the final part of my Venezuela series. We volunteered with children in an indigenous village nearby called Manak-Kru, using a mobile school.
When I was volunteering in Venezuela we were working with kids from what was known as The Invasion. This hub is about their lives and what it was like working with them!
This is the third in my series of hubs about when I was volunteering in Venezuela. This hub is concentrating on the town of Santa Elena, where we were staying, and the different things we did there.
When I went to Venezuela to volunteer with under-privileged children, I was working for an organisation called Aldeas de Paz. This is all about the place I was staying!
I spent August in a small town in Venezuela called Santa Elena, volunteering with under-privileged children. I had the most amazing time and I feel compelled to share my experience with as many people as possible.
The perils that await girls in the unfortunately revealing bikinis and the perils for the men faced with girls who revel in the revealing bikinis!
Whilst I was at the swimming pool all these crazy things kept happening that I thought I should share. I realised that there are many people who lack in what I can only describe as Swimming Pool Etiquette
It has always angered me when people positively discriminate in an effort to get women equal rights to me. Women should have equal opportunities to men, but men should not be disadvantaged in this. Men and women are different and people seem to forget this.
When I got rid of my Nokia 3600 I had to choose a new phone and I found myself picking between the Samsung Tocco Lite and the LG Cookie. I asked around and found the overwhelming opinion that I should buy the Tocco Lite.