Derren Brown's Blog, page 49

Derren Brown Live Boxset – now available at Amazon

A rather lovely boxset of Derren at his very best.

This contains three of our man's must-see live theatre shows, including:

An Evening of Wonders

The psychological illusionist takes us on a journey through mind control and subliminal suggestion and recreates the jaw-dropping 'Oracle Act' from the turn of the 20th century. The show features audience participation, shocking stunts and mind games, as Derren shows why you have to see him live.

Something Wicked This Way Comes

This DVD features the Olivier Award-winning stage show. Derren stops his pulse, walks on glass, and armed only with a few newspapers drives the show to a tour-de-force finale of prediction, influence and showmanship that will leave you breathless.

Enigma

A special tone leaves the audience hypnotised and a woman finds herself sleep-walking through the rows. Is a supernatural force summoned within the Spirit Cabinet or is the medium somehow doing Brown's bidding? Derren is again at his finest in this stunning theatrical event that brought him more rave reviews up and down the country and "sees him climb to artistic heights rarely, if ever, achieved by any other legends of the magical arts" (Time Out).

WIN AMAZING SVENGALI PRIZES: If you do order the above DVD- be sure to leave a quick (but honest) review, let us know here and we'll announce a reviewers name as the winner via email on DB's birthday.

Click here to order.

Derren Brown Live – DVD now available at Amazon

For those of you who really want to go wild there's also an amazing series of all DB's televised live shows available as well.

A box set containing three of Derren Brown's must-see live theatre shows, including:

An Evening of Wonders

The psychological illusionist takes us on a journey through mind control and subliminal suggestion and recreates the jaw-dropping 'Oracle Act' from the turn of the 20th century. The show features audience participation, shocking stunts and mind games, as Derren shows why you have to see him live.

Something Wicked This Way Comes

This DVD features the Olivier Award-winning stage show. Derren stops his pulse, walks on glass, and armed only with a few newspapers drives the show to a tour-de-force finale of prediction, influence and showmanship that will leave you breathless.

Enigma

A special tone leaves the audience hypnotised and a woman finds herself sleep-walking through the rows. Is a supernatural force summoned within the Spirit Cabinet or is the medium somehow doing Brown's bidding? Derren is again at his finest in this stunning theatrical event that brought him more rave reviews up and down the country and "sees him climb to artistic heights rarely, if ever, achieved by any other legends of the magical arts" (Time Out).

WIN AMAZING SVENGALI PRIZES: If you do order the above DVD- be sure to leave a quick (but honest) review, let us know here and we'll announce a reviewers name as the winner via email on DB's birthday.

Click here to order.

Derren Brown Enigma DVD now available at Amazon

For those of you who didn't catch DB on TV with Enigma – you can now get the show on DVD from AMAZON here.

WIN AMAZING SVENGALI PRIZES: If you do order the above DVD- be sure to leave a quick (but honest) review, let us know here and we'll announce a reviewers name as the winner via email on DB's birthday.

Science Of Attraction – Now Live!

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The Science of Attraction is the sequel to the BAFTA nominated Science of Scams web series. http://www.scienceofscams.com

Introduced by Derren Brown and presented by Kat Akingbade and Charlie McDonnell the website acts as the hub for a number of entertaining and informative experiments about the psychology, biology and unwitting judgements that explain why we are attracted to each other.

Poets have swooned over it since the invention of the written word; singers started crooning about it even before that time. It is a central theme in our daily lives, from the books we read to the people who make our hearts beat a little faster. It's what "makes the world go 'round." For the most part, attraction remains an unsolved mystery. No definitive method exists to calculate or predict to whom we will be attracted. The media constantly tries to tell us how we should look, what is attractive, what products we should buy and what clothes we should wear to be more attractive, there are books on chat up techniques and rules about dating and now science is tackling the subject. Recent experiments involving everything from sweaty T-shirts to facial symmetry have started to piece together some of the clues to this enormously complex phenomenon and in this series we'll explore the scams and the science behind attraction.

Each video contains experiments that test theories about the science of attraction. Lively, entertaining and insightful these experiments are based on the most recent research that has been carried out on the science of attraction. Do psychological strategies espoused by self-help gurus and dating experts really work? Is it really possible to use body language, NLP and other psychological tricks to make yourself appear more attractive? All of these questions and more are investigated at www.scienceofattraction.co.uk.

Science of Attraction is live at www.scienceofattraction.co.uk

Follow on twitter: http://twitter.com/SciOfAttraction

Follow on FaceBook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Science-of-Attraction/155175891174341?v=app_4949752878

And YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/Scienceofattraction

First full episode is released tomorrow!

Argentina to create official UFO commission!

"Inexplicata has reported that the Argentinian government has made the decision to Create an Official UFO Commission.

According to multiple news agencies, a spokesperson for the Argentinean Air Force (AAF) confirmed on December 29th, 2010, that the decision to create a commission to record and investigate claims of unidentified flying objects in that country's air space will be created. The AAF's media consultant, Captain Mariano Mohaupt — who confirmed that the Air Force has already recorded the unexplained experiences of some of its pilots with what may allege to be visitors from OUT OF THIS WORLD — commented on the matter:

"The Commission for the Research of Aerospatial Phenomena is in the process of being formed… and now things will be perceived from the formal, professional standpoint, contributing toward our mission, which is to control our air space."

The team would be multidisciplinary in nature, including meteorologists, flight controllers, pilots and radar specialists, and shall receive reports made by citizens regarding phenomena seen in space. "

Read more at American Monsters (Thanks Christopher C)

Credentialing: It May Not Be the Cat's Meow

"The cat is out of the bag.

After many months, I've finally been pushed to finish this article on questionable credentialing in hypnosis and "psychotherapy." A reporter from a major magazine wrote to "Dr. Zoe D. Katze" for input on an article she was writing on hypnosis for childbirthing. She had stumbled across Dr. Zoe's name on the American Association of Professional Hypnotherapists' website. I had to tell her the truth.

Dr. Zoe D. Katze, Ph.D., C.Ht., DAPA, is a cat. In fact, she is my cat. Those familiar with basic German have probably already enjoyed a laugh. "Zoe Die Katze" literally translates to "Zoe the cat."

Dr. Katze's credentials look impressive. She is certified by three major hypnotherapy associations, having met their "strict training requirements" and having had her background thoroughly reviewed. She holds a Diplomate in psychotherapy from an association that claims to promote the highest standards among psychotherapists.

I was motivated to credential my cat by two circumstances. First, I have become increasingly heedful of all the questionable credentials out there, and I've grown tired of sounding defensive to therapist-shopping clients who confront me with something along the order of: "I found somebody with all these certifications and diplomas and he/she charges half of what you psychologists charge."

The last straw (and my moment of inspiration) came during an internet search for a colleague. I accidentally came upon the website of another "psychotherapist" who listed a doctoral degree from an infamous diploma mill. Along with his degrees, he listed a veritable alphabet soup of impressive-looking letters after his name, corresponding to various "board certifications" and his status as a "Diplomat [sic] and Fellow" of the "largest professional hypnosis association in the world."

I decided to credential my cat.

This was a surprisingly easy thing to do. First, since so many financial transactions are conducted by credit card, I had to get Zoe some credit. No problem; I just added her as an "authorized user" of one of my own credit cards. (The credit card agent asked for Zoe's social security number, but then cheerfully relented when I told him it would take me some time to search for it.)"

Read more at Dreichel (Thanks Josie H)

God was behind Big Bang, pope says

"God's mind was behind complex scientific theories such as the Big Bang, and Christians should reject the idea that the universe came into being by accident, Pope Benedict said Thursday.

"The universe is not the result of chance, as some would want to make us believe," Benedict said on the day Christians mark the Epiphany, the day the Bible says the three kings reached the site where Jesus was born by following a star.

"Contemplating it (the universe) we are invited to read something profound into it: the wisdom of the creator, the inexhaustible creativity of God," he said in a sermon to some 10,000 people in St. Peter's Basilica on the feast day.

While the pope has spoken before about evolution, he has rarely delved back in time to discuss specific concepts such as the Big Bang, which scientists believe led to the formation of the universe some 13.7 billion years ago.

Researchers at CERN, the nuclear research center in Geneva, have been smashing protons together at near the speed of light to simulate conditions that they believe brought into existence the primordial universe from which stars, planets and life on earth — and perhaps elsewhere — eventually emerged."

Read more at MSNBC (Thanks Christopher C)

This Man Somehow Sneezed Out the Bullet That Shot Him

"I'm stunned. Doctors are flabbergasted. The world is square. What. The. Hell. An Italian man was hit by a stray bullet. In the head. But it didn't kill him! How? Well, he somehow sneezed out the very bullet that shot him.

Darco Sangermano, a 28-year-old Italian man, was partying and celebrating on New Years Eve. Just like you and me. But unlike us, he was partying in Naples where things can get a little wild—down in Naples, they fire guns with live ammunition to ring in the new year. Unfortunately for ol' Darco, he was shot in the face by a stray bullet during one of those celebrations.

Obviously worried for his life, Darco—bloody face and all—rushed to the hospital in hopes that doctors could save him. Turns out they didn't have to. When he got to the hospital, a big whooping sneeze overcame him and out came snot and that .22 caliber bullet he got shot with. From his nose. The doctors were absolutely stunned:

"He was a very lucky man, he could have been killed," Dr. Sid Berrone said. "The bullet went through his temple, behind his eye, entered the nasal cavity and then became lodged in his nostril before he sneezed it out. Amazing."

Doctors cleaned out his wound and removed bone fragments and he's expected to make a full recovery. Amazing indeed."

Read more at Gizmodo (Thanks Waseem S)

The Brain: A Secret History – Mind Control

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In a compelling and at times disturbing series, Dr Michael Mosley explores the brutal history of experimental psychology – it features many aspects of mind control including brain washing, experimental therapy and some rather disturbing science.

To begin, Michael traces the sinister ways this science has been used to try to control our minds. He finds that the pursuit of mind control has led to some truly horrific experiments and left many casualties in its wake. Extraordinary archive captures what happened – scientists systematically change the behaviour of children; law abiding citizens give fatal electric shocks; a gay man has electrodes implanted in his head in an attempt to turn his sexuality.

Michael takes a hallucinogenic drug as part of a controlled experiment to try to understand how its mind-bending properties can change the brain.

This is a scientific journey goes to the very heart of what we hold most dear – our free will, and our ability to control our own destiny.

Available via iPlayer for a little while this is essential watching.

iPlayer

Herbal remedies face licence rule

"Hundreds of traditional and imported remedies on the shelves of health food shops and herbalists are set to be banned under new licensing rules.

The EU directive aims to protect users from any damaging side-effects that can arise from taking unsuitable medicines.

Only high quality, long-established and scientifically safe herbal medicines will be sold over the counter.

Some traders who sell products imported from outside the EU say their business will be hit.

Herbal medicines – with names such as Cascara Bark and Horny Goat Weed – have become popular.

But from the first of May an EU directive will be enforced, under which all such products must be licensed, following fears that some products could cause harm.

Producers and independent health store owners say the directive, passed in 2004, is draconian and skewed in favour of the largest European manufacturers.

Selwyn Soe runs The Herbal Factory, a contract manufacturer of herbal remedies in Croydon, south London. He believes smaller firms like his own will be squeezed out altogether.

"Unfortunately it looks as if we will have to close down because of this legislation," he said.

"The problem for us is that although we would have to pay many thousands of pounds for a licence to keep making each product, unlike a drug company we would not have a licence to make that product exclusively. It just will not be worth paying out the money.""

Read more at BBC News