Ateavablog

Happy Birthday Tea Bag

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 20:50:57 -0300

Thomas Sullivan's British tea bag

Thomas Sullivan's British tea invention celebrates its 100th birthday this month. The accidental tea staple born as a cost-effective method for sending tea samples now serves up 130 million cups of tea in Britain alone.

Green tea as a possible treatment for sleep apnea.

Tue, 20 May 2008 01:40:38 -0300

A new study conducted by Dr. David Gozal and colleagues at the University of Louisville School of Medicine in Kentucky suggests the catechin polyphenols in green tea help protect the brain from neurological damage attributed the the breathing disorder sleep apnea (or pauses in breathing or shallow breaths while you sleep).

Gozal's team's finding show that oxidative stress resulting from induced oxygen deprivation over 14 days are avoided when given green tea polyphenols.

Although the results have yet to be seen in human patients, the findings do look exciting for those who suffer from the effects of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).

SOURCE: American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, May 15, 2008

Golden shoes make this perfect track better

Mon, 19 May 2008 16:23:54 -0300

Don't know why I haven't put this up already...Digitalism's Pogo been heavy on the Ateava playlist a while back.

Anyway, still relevant, but we recommend getting a hold a quality version of this track and playing it LOUD...

Digitalism (myspace)

Jungle tea in Southern China

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 03:02:08 -0300

Ateava: Southern China's Yunnan Province
Ateava: Southern China's Yunnan Province
Ateava: Southern China's Yunnan Province

"Yet for many families in the remote reaches of Yunnan, tea-picking remains outside the realm of commerce. It's something they do for themselves and is so tightly intertwined with their daily lives that harvesting tea is a routine household chore like putting the laundry out to dry."

--Thomas Fuller

How beautiful...

Source: Thomas Fuller's IHT article, "Tea, wild or not, enriches Chinese province"

Image credit: Ateava (Taken while trekking through Southern China's Yunnan Province. The bottom one was taken with permission inside a beautiful family's residence.)

Today we are serving Pu-erh

Thu, 10 Apr 2008 05:06:00 -0300

Ateava: Serving up Pu-erh Tea the sexy way

Watch the sexy video here

See you in two years... (Ateava's Whitney Biennial 2008 Review)

Wed, 9 Apr 2008 02:07:00 -0300

Whitney Biennial 2008

See you in two years...

The Whitney Biennial 2008 just wrapped up and being a critical barometer of the American contemporary art scene, Ateava chose to brief review the event. For those of you who don't know, the biennial is a well regarded contemporary American exhibition held in New York City highlighting relatively unknown artists.

This year's biennial was raw and focused. It's also my favorite one of the past four. No gimmicks were present here, and if they existed, were well hidden. The chief curators, Chrissie Iles and Philippe Vergne managed to capture how relevant art is in these restless, discontented times. I'm usually turned off by art as social commentary, but found many of the underlying themes that did pay homage to the ills or times interestingly relevant. Found objects installations and videos were prevalent, while painting was a rarity.

Understandably, there may be some who will tag this year's exhibition as mediocre, but this sentiment most likely stems from their expectations of what art should be. If you choose to look at the biennial (and art in general) in terms of "ideas", then it should be a success. Clearly the show struggles to make sense of current social, political and economic contexts vis-�-vis a non preachy, raw, conceptual vocabulary. Those looking for meticulously crafted, tangible installations, that speaks to subjects such form and color should look elsewhere.

Unhappy, unglamorous, and restless yes, but this show is also more alive and optimistic about art since the wave of american pioneers beginning the the 60s and 70s.

(More images and photo credits after the jump...)
Whitney Biennial 2008
Whitney Biennial 2008
Whitney Biennial 2008
Whitney Biennial 2008
Whitney Biennial 2008

Photo credits:
1. Olympia Lambert (Check out her awesome blog here)
2, 4. roberta fallon/ Libby Rosof and (another cool art blog here)
5,6. WhitneyBiennial2008

Women: More tea equals a healthier heart

Sun, 30 Mar 2008 20:39:39 -0300

Ateava. A healthy heart comes with tea.

Women who drink at least three cups of tea a day are less likely to have heart attacks and strokes. New research published in the medical journal Arteriosclerosis assesses the relationship of tea consumption with common carotid artery intima-media thickness (CCA-IMT) and carotid plaques. Key findings within the 6597 subjects aged ≥65 years include a lower likelihood of high blood pressure, diabetes and a high body mass index (BMI), including a lower tendency to smoke. Oddly, the positive benefits were not as significant for men, however the male tea drinkers were less likely to ingest alcohol, coffee, or meat. Both male and female tea drinkers showed a higher tendency of diets rich in fruits and vegetables, and tended to have higher levels of education.

The study, who's aim was to "assess the relationship of tea consumption with common carotid artery intima-media thickness (CCA-IMT) and carotid plaques" proves great news in the growing mountain of evidence supporting tea's health benefits, but it was not without flaws. Statistical evidence of actual heart attacks and stokes was not reported. Additionally, specifics as to tea grade or quality were not included.

Source: Tea Consumption Is Inversely Associated With Carotid Plaques in Women (Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology. 2008;28:353.) St�phanie Debette; Dominique Courbon; Nathalie Leone; J�r�me Gari�py; Christophe Tzourio; Jean-Fran�ois Dartigues; Pascale Barberger-Gateau; Karen Ritchie; Annick Alp�rovitch; Philippe Amouyel; Pierre Ducimeti�re; Mahmoud Zureik.

Dealing with an uncertain future: MGMT (Ateava's playlist)

Fri, 14 Mar 2008 19:06:13 -0300

MGMT
MGMT
MGMT is spiritually in sync with who Ateava is right now.

Rebellious aspirational nostalgia against the uncertain, complex humdrum of society.

Voluntary optimistic na�vet� forcing new conclusions about ourselves and the world.

Watch:
MGMT - "Time To Pretend" Music Video
MGMT - "Electric Feel" -Interactive Music Video Game rendition (The actual game can be downloaded here)
YouTube tribute video for "Kids"

Tea: The Anthrax Antidote

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 22:13:00 -0300

New evidence suggests tea may be the antidote to the Bacillus anthracis (yes, anthrax). According to research conducted by Les Baillie of the Welsh School of Pharmacy at Cardiff University and Theresa Gallagher, Biodefence Institute, Medical Biotechnology Center of the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute in Baltimore, tea has the potential to inactivate anthrax activity in the body.

The caveat: adding milk will inhibit the antibacterial activity, or as Professor Baillie puts it:

"I would suggest that in the event that we are faced with a potential bio-terror attack, individuals may want to forgo their dash of milk at least until the situation is under control.

Source: March issue of the Society for Applied Microbiology journal Microbiologist

Ateava's holiday message

Sun, 23 Dec 2007 23:15:38 -0400

Ateava Holiday lights
Ateava Holiday lights
A Holiday Tea Party

A personal holiday message to our readers from Ateava.

With time to reflect on life stories with our friends and family over a warm cup of tea, we also would like to extend our message of happy holidays to everyone throughout the world.

Image: The Christmas tea party (Seven children at table by Christmas tree) Meadville, Pa. : Standard Scenic Company, c1906