On the agenda: We're banging the drum for Sudan – when we're not cheering up with a curry, that is
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Your support makes all the difference.Music
How to drum up support for a new charity campaign? Get some of the world's best percussionists together for an online music video, of course. Backing the "Beat for Peace" push for Sudan, Radiohead's Phil Selway, The Police's Stewart Copeland and Pink Floyd's Nick Mason star in a film that sees a drum-beat "passed" around the world by an international cohort of sticks-men. You can even upload your efforts to sudan365.org. If the neighbours complain about the noise... just tell them it's for charidee, mate.
Adam Jacques
Books
As soon as the ebook was launched, it was inevitable that tech-savvy geeks would soon figure out how to get free downloads. So thanks to freakbits.com for a round-up of 2009's most illegally downloaded ebooks of 2009 and a glimpse into the mind of the modern techie. 1: Kamasutra... 3: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Amazing Sex... 8. How To Get Anyone To Say YES. The format may change, but some proclivities stay the same.
Katy Guest
Fashion
With party season over, we're left with stinking hangovers, stinking colds and, not to put too fine a point on it, stinking clothes. Refresh the boozy, smoky glad-rags in your laundry basket without splashing out on dry cleaning with this nugget of advice from Mad Men costume designer Janie Bryant, as told to Valet magazine this month: "All you have to do is mix one part vodka to two parts water in a spray bottle. It works every time – that's the power of vodka for you." What better way to use up all the spirits you've sworn off for the new year?
Harriet Walker
Photography
If you're looking for the next big thing in photography, the London Art Fair's Photo50 is worth a look. Each of the 50 works on display (all for sale) has been chosen by an expert panel and showcases 12 emerging artists, including Tereza Buskova (her Beheading Of The Cockerel, below left), who creates tableaux vivants that draw on folklore from her native Czech Republic for inspiration. From Wednesday, londonartfair.co.uk
AJ
Food
Next time you're feeling tense, perhaps all you need is a curry. The award-winning Indian chef Sanjeev Kumar's restaurant in Stoke-on-Trent has menus with a thumb sensor that changes colour according to your mood (red for tense, green for calm, black for stressed), resulting in targeted dining suggestions. If you're in the black, for example, try the chicken breast stuffed with spices, pine seeds and nuts (the antioxidants and Omega-3 reduce anxiety). The jury might be out on how well it works, but a menu free of artificial flavours, colours and taste enhancers should put a smile on anyone's face. Sanjeev's Indian Restaurant & Bar, tel: 01782 545 533
AJ
Comedy
Some of the best comedy arises out of spontaneity, which makes next week's 50-hour 'improvathon' from theatre outfit The Sticking Place (inset) so intriguing. Can 25 actors and musicians performing a non-stop improvisational routine maintain the flow of humour for two solid days? If you're not game to sit there and find out (a 50-hour event pass is £40), you can purchase tickets for two-hour "episodes", day or night. From 22 January at Hoxton Hall, London N1; improvathon.co.uk
AJ
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