Something to talk about
As you can imagine, I am now properly gearing up for Australia and, more pressingly, for the live radio show on Monday. So I’m not blogging today, in the truest sense, but as usual on these occasions I will suggest something to talk about. So, has anyone ever been hypnotised- as part of a course of therapy or something? Did it work? Also, do you think we would be more productive and happier if we started work later in the day, like in a lot of countries? Also, where would you go if you had just one chance to visit another time? Your visit lasts 24 hours.
I must catch up with those cakes. Tibbs, have you sent cake pictures?
Tomorrow or on Monday early, I will post instructions for listening to/joining in with/being present at/being culturally influenced by the radio show. Exciting.
Posted by Anna on February 28, 2011
Never been hypnotised, but I did try hypnobirthing with both babies. It didn’t stop labour hurting, but it did help me keep calm and in control. Well, as calm as you can be when you’re pushing another human being out of you.
I’d definitely be more productive if I wasn’t woken up at 6am every morning by a mad toddler clambering into my bed shouting ‘ello mum!’
Travelling back in time-Either to Pompeii, just before it was destroyed, or, on a more personal level, back to the mid 90′s, before my grandad died and my nan went completely senile, so I could ask them all the things I never got a chance to.
Posted by Clembear on February 28, 2011
Well, I’ve been trying to get up earlier to have more time each day. It seems to work reasonably well.
24 hour time travel: Are we assuming magic translation device and appropriate clothing? I’ve got a huge list of past times and places, for both historical interest and to confirm some paradoxes, but I’d probably choose to go forward a few hundred years to see what happens next. I’d love to see dinosaurs though, provided I was armed. Possibly meeting Jesus too.
Posted by Megan on February 27, 2011
I’m so nerdy that I’d try to go to Cambridge ca. 1978 to try to hang with Fry/Laurie/Thompson/etc. before they were famous. Either that, or figure out a good time to hang out with my double paternal (grandfather’s parents) grandparents, since I didn’t get to meet them. They were giants! My great-grandmother was 6’1!
Despite, or perhaps because of, my degree in history, I know that the past was most frequently a terrible mess and I don’t want to get the plague or consumption and not have doctors to treat it. Perhaps I’ve read too much Connie Willis.
As for the big show Monday, I am pondering leaving work early so that I can listen without interruption. I was there for almost 6 hours overnight the other day because a bastard broke the glass in one of the front doors, so it’s not like I’d have to make up the time, right?
Posted by louisel on February 27, 2011
Hope you enjoy Australia! I’m looking forward to the radio show, even though I’ll just be listening at home
The closest I’ve been to being hypnotised was being stuck to my chair by the Derren Brown show last year. I watched it with my mates and they found it hilarious that I was the only one of us who couldn’t stand up. Hmph.
I would love to start earlier at Sixth Form. I’m not so bothered about it in the summer, but having to get up when it’s still dark in winter is horrible.
I’d love to go back to February 2010 and spend a day with my Grandma, asking her things I never got the chance to, making sure that she knew how amazing I think she is and just to give her a massive hug.
Posted by h2osarah on February 27, 2011
If I could go to another time, I think I would go to ancient greece. Preferably the classical period. Just to see how people actually lived back then, and also to see what all the temples and buildings looked like when they were all painted. I’m a history nerd.
Posted by Jen on February 27, 2011
i love these sort of blogs…
i’ve never been hypnotised…it scares me….don’t know why…maybe im abit of a control freak!!
I’d love it if we worked longer days Mon -Thurs and then had Fri as an extra weekend day…thats my dream…it just feels like we spend alot of our time working and have no time to relax…i don’t mind early starts really …i’d happily put in the extra hours to get a three day weekend!
I’m with Claire and Misha on the 24hrs anyway question….i’m a huge Beatles fan….went to Liverpool again this week…the Cavern although re-built still has an amazing atmosphere…i’d love to go to the 1960s Cavern and watch a Beatles gig…before Beatlemania truly kicked off…it would be amazing!!I’d request ‘My Bonnie’ and get all their autographs!!! I went to see Paul McCartney live last year and it was epic so to see them all would be mindblowing!Jx
Posted by alot of rachels on February 27, 2011
I’ve never been hypnotised for therapy but I did have to work a hypnotist show last week. it was horrible. I don’t want to watch a 40 year old man tell an 18 year old boy to put his hand down his trouser and rub himself because he’s been hypnotised into thinking he’s watching porn and then to ask the girls to pretend to act out sex scenes bc they think they’re in said porn.
I don’t understand the happier if we work later because if we start work at say 11 instead
of 9 we’d finish work at 7 and so wouldn’t be going to bed until 1am and then getting up at 9am instead of 7 so we’d still get the same amount of rest and stuff and 11am will just become the new 9am…if that makes sense. but I do agree that I much prefer 10-11am to 9ams.
hmm a good 24 hours…I’d say 6-7th July 2007. I went to see chili peppers in Paris and got to meet some amazing people who had been lovely to me in the previous months and I was at front row due to me and 7 others managing to scrounge some early passes. but what makes it an even better time was that my mum and dad came with me and my mum had been through 6 months of intense chemo which she finished the week before we went so we didn’t know if she’d be able to come along with us and going to Paris to celebrate that round of treatment and rest before the next lot was lovely in a great city
Posted by Tibbs on February 27, 2011
Okay, the cake pictures are all up here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/59661852@N06/
And the original files are in a rar file here, minus the two collage-y things I did, since I can’t seem to find those files atm: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=MXJ2MJIG
We had a hyptonist come to my jr high school once for some reason, but I wasn’t one of the ones who had the right state of mind to be hypnotized. Still, it was fun watching everyone who did get picked reacting in odd ways to everything he said.
And I am definitely happier now that I switched to a different area at work and only have to come in kinda early, rather than at an ungodly hour.
Posted by Natalie-Helen on February 27, 2011
I’ve never been hypnotised but did watch a show at uni which was hillarious. Pretty certain it didn’t help anyone involved but was very fun for me!
I find waking up early almost painful. It takes me a good hour or two after waking up to be in the right frame of mind to do things like get dressed and make food. But also I seem to be able to drag my self up and get out the door quite quickly if there is something I need to do or go. I think I’d be happier because I feel more productive later in the day than first thing. I’d quite like to steal Spain’s late night dinners and France’s 2 hour lunch breaks too.
I would go to Paris on the 14th July 1789 and watch the Storming of the Bastile and spend the day seeing the beginning of the French Revolution up close. I studied History at university and was told by most of my lecturers that 1789 was one of the most important dates ever. The French revolution has untold impact on so many things that we continue with today, for example our judicial and prison system was influenced by the fear that revolution would spread. It would be excellent to see the catalyst for so much that I studied…
^_^
Posted by Rachael on February 27, 2011
I think I would go to the mid 80′s, brat pack era. It looks fun in all the john hughes movies.
Posted by Lydia on February 27, 2011
I’m not sure about hypnosis. I was given a CD that was supposed to hypnotise you and help get rid of anxiety but I don’t think it worked. I was awake past the time the tape told me that I shouldn’t be awake anymore, and all I could hear was loads of voices whispering. All I did was lie there thinking “what the fuck is this?”. But then eventually I think I must have fallen asleep because when I woke up the tape had finished. If I’m honest I think the falling asleep probably had more to do with boredom and general tiredness than hypnotism. Oh yeah, and I am no less anxious. I think you’re supposed to listen to it a few times but I can’t really be bothered with it.
I’m not sure where I’d visit. I would want Doctor Who to be involved. Sadly though he is fictional (ignoring for a moment that so is time travel). I’d probably go to the 17 or 1800s. You know, Jane Austen time.
Posted by Alice on February 27, 2011
Hypnosis is just relaxation and positive suggestions – I teach it to women expecting babies to help them become less frightened of childbirth. Most people think it’s mind control or that you zoom off to another world, but the experience is much more mundane. I got to 8cm without being entirely sure if ‘this was it’, in my own labour 15 months ago!
Posted by Tracey on February 27, 2011
Hi Mark. I’ve never been hypnotized so can’t really comment. I expect some would benefit with a later start to the day although some people like to start early if they then have the option to finish early. Revisit for 24 hours? I’m torn between three options. I’d like to spend the day in London or Prague – I’ve always wanted to find out more about the so called “vampire princess” Eleonore Von Schwarzenberg but the real thrill would be to go back to Victorian times and catch Jack the Ripper so we’d all know who it was. I can’t help but think that the latter would have spoilt a lot of authors and actors careers though. Hope all goes well in Australia. Take care, Tracey x
Posted by Lisa D on February 27, 2011
My job starts late in the day. It’s why I became a bartender. Sure, it lacks ambition, but it is the only profession I’ve ever had that both paid well & I didn’t long to quit two months in. Being able to sleep properly is a big part of that. I’m completely incapable of falling asleep at a “normal” time. 2AM is a really early night for me. For most of my life people assume I’m lazy because I’m still asleep at noon, but now I just point out that I work nights. It’s brilliant. I’m in a good mood at work, never late, and have tons of energy. People should be able to work in shifts that suit them; job productivity would go through the roof.
If I could visit any 24 period I’d like to see the last game of the Baseball World Series in 1918. Boston won and Babe Ruth hadn’t traded to New York yet. My hometown is notoriously grumpy, it would be nice to see Boston on one of its best days.
Posted by Kathryn on February 27, 2011
If I could go back to a time in my own life- 27/10/10, definitely. That was a brilliant 24 hours. Any time in history is harder.
Working later in the day would be brilliant. I am a lazy student- I’m already wondering how to get a job that doesn’t start before 10am.
Posted by Tibbs on February 27, 2011
Did you not get the links I sent on twitter? Darn. I’m not on my home computer, and I won’t be able to get to it til some time tomorrow; will try to resend them then!
Posted by Misha on February 27, 2011
I start work late in the day, and generally start uni late too. I can firmly say it’s much pleasanter. I’m far more inclined to turn up at 11am or 6pm than at 9am. Bleugh.
This, possibly, is why i’m aiming towards a job where I can work nights largely.
Difficult to know where i’d go with my 24 hours. The problem is, that there are loads of places and eras that’d be fascinating. The Romans, the Tudors, Beatles pre-fame, well, lots of bands before they got famous/died etc.
I think, ultimately, i’d go back to 26/7/07, around about 2 in the afternoon. And i’d spend my last 24 hours with my mum again. And then say goodbye properly this time.
Sad, but true.*
*I mean in the sense that it’s genuinely a bit sad and depressing. Not that usual sense.
Posted by Claire on February 27, 2011
I’d go to the Cavern Club in Liverpool circa ’61/62 to see the Beatles before they took off!
Posted by Kate W on February 27, 2011
I personally would definitely be happier and more productive if work started later in the day. I find having to be at my desk by 9am an imposition, but would happily work till 6/7pm every day. I know there are others who’d love to start early and get the whole work thing over and done with – some sort of global flexible working seems called for.
Very, VERY much looking forward to being present at the radio show. And probably to being culturally influenced by it too.
Posted by Alex on February 26, 2011
My sister had some hypnotherapy for ‘issues’. She thinks it worked. Hmmm. I don’t know. I suspect a placebo effect, but I guess if she thinks it helped then it did help. I suppose it’s one of those things that you have to be open to, and I wouldn’t be because a) I’m very much a ‘suck it up and deal with it person’, I’d just feel silly, and b) I’d hate it, I’d feel incredibly vulnerable, I don’t ever want to be out of control of what I do or say to people.
Yes probably. I would anyway. I never get anything worthwhile done before midday.
How could you possibly pick one time? When people ask me what superpower I’d want (which happens suprisingly often) I always say time travel. I think somewhere ancient though. Maybe the building of Stonehenge or something- it would be nice to know why.
Posted by Josh (the magnificent one) on February 26, 2011
Derren Brown put me in a trance and made me stand up when I went to his show. Not really hypnotism, but still.
Posted by Rachel on February 26, 2011
Never been hypnotised, don’t think I’d like to be either to be honest. I had to write about work hours in my Spanish writing exam last week, I pretended I thought it would be a good idea to do less hours per day but perhaps one more day to compensate for it, not sure if I really do think that would work. And if I could revisit somewhere for 24 hours, I’d pick Muškovci in Croatia. I was lucky enough to stay at a wild campsite on the river bank – the only access to ‘real life’ was via the water. It was so beautiful and peaceful
Posted by Dawn on February 26, 2011
Have a lovely time in Australia:)
If I could revisit for 24 hours it would be when I went to Melbourne in 1992.
My brother paid for my air ticket and I stayed with his family for three weeks.
After landing at Melbourne Airport the first 24 hours were like living in a dream world! It more than lived up to my expectations:)