FEAST OR FAMINE

Today, Friday July 31, 2015, we will experience a blue moon. The blue moon occurs approximately every 2.5 years. It happens when there is a second full moon in the same month – when the first full moon occurs early in the month and the second full moon occurs late in the month, 30 days later. Therefore it occurs only in months with 31 days (and usually July, August or December). July’s first full moon appeared on July 2. For example, there was a blue moon on December 31, 2009, and August 31, 2012. So 'once in a blue moon' is actually not so rare. The expression ‘once in a blue moon’ is used colloquially to mean ‘not very often’ or ‘rarely.’ The moon does not turn blue, although sometimes it appears to change colour due to dust particles in the atmosphere. Nor does it signify blue for unhappiness. Some people believe that when there are two full moons in once calendar month, the second one – the blue moon – brings surprises and occurrences that em...

The flower market at Kolchos (Kolmeurneoba) Square in the centre of Tbilisi has been a long-standing permanent market. Colourful and charismatic, the perfume changes with the wind and the season. Not only do marketers sell flowers at the market, but also around the city there are small stalls and street sellers.

Hotels that are successful in securing direct reservations know how to use psychology as the draw card. Hotel News Resource (July 27, 2015) thinks the power of persuading customers to book accommodation and walk in the door of hotels is based on the power of psychology – the psychology of buying behaviour. Hotel marketing through websites is full of psychological methods to lure a customer – that’s how hotel websites get you in the door. They use features that encourage customers to make a booking. One psychological method of attraction is to play on the potential buyer’s emotions. Neurossciencemarketing.com has an article that explains this: ‘decisions are often made when emotions override rational thought processes.’ So hotel marketers use emotions, depending on the type of hotel they are marketing. For example, they make potential buyers feel calm and relaxed if they are marketing a hotel by the coast, or give them the promise of lasting memories if they are...

MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the  author of:-  Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

It’s often been said that you are what you wear. The style, colour, shape, and texture of clothes are said to determine personality traits. But do they? Does your mood determine what you wear or do the clothes determine the mood – and therefore affect your personality? Can wearing a particular colour make you look smarter or even make you smarter? Can colour psychology determine personality traits or make you smarter – i.e. more intelligent? Psychologists believe that people sum up your character and personality in a matter of seconds just by looking at your clothes. This is called ‘thin slicing.’ It’s called thin slicing because it’s a small window of time – from seconds up to five minutes – where everything from your age, gender, intelligence, status, sexual orientation, political affiliation, occupation, mood, creativity, and more are determined and judged. A Canadian study found that 90% of consumers’ first impressions are based on colour. For example, light...