Search

Clothes women wanted to wear: a new exhibition explores how Carla Zampatti saw her designs as a tracker of feminism

The late Carla Zampatti is celebrated in a splendid retrospective Zampatti Powerhouse at the Powerhouse Museum. Planned well before the fashion designer’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-carla-zampatti-pioneered-wearable-yet-cosmopolitan-clothes-for-women-and-became-a-fashion-icon-158377">untimely death</a> last year, the unveiling of her legacy will be bittersweet to her many fans. Zampatti is often referred to as “Carla” by friends and those who worked for her, rather than her brand name, Carla Zampatti. Here, the simple name “Zampatti” removes the emphasis from Zampatti as designer to a simpler assertion: businesswoman, mother, philanthropist-entrepreneur. It is a move as deft and elegant as the rest of the exhibition choices. In one of the best-looking fashion exhibition designs Australia has seen, creative director Tony Assness serves up a dynamic vision of clothes punctuated by a vibrant red (one of Zampatti’s favourite design choices) that encourages excitement and discovery. Clothes are arranged by themes – jumpsuit, jungle, graphic, blouson, power – rather than date. Curator Roger Leong leverages his years of experience to do a relatively new thing for Australian museums: tell the stories of clothes through the stories of women who wore them. <h2>A migrant story</h2> Zampatti’s story is an Australian migrant story. Born Maria Zampatti in Italy in 1938 (not 1942, as is often believed), she did not meet her father, who had migrated to Fremantle, until she was 11. In Australia, she was forced to change her name to Mary. It was claimed the other kids could not pronounce Maria. She did not finish school. When she moved to Sydney in her late 20s, she reinvented herself as Carla. The fashion business started on a kitchen table in 1965 under the label ZamPAtti. By 1970, Carla had bought out her business partner husband, and was sole owner of Carla Zampatti Pty Ltd. Zampatti flourished in fashion. She had a finger on the pulse, was in the right place at the right time, and knew a more glamorous role was possible for a fashion designer than the industry “rag trader”. In the 1970s, the markets suggested that the ultra-expensive haute couture was about to disappear, to be replaced by informal ranges created by a new type of designer often called a “stylist”. It was the decade of flower power, retro dressing and ethnic borrowings. Until the 1960s, fashion had been dominated by the rise of haute couture and the “dictator-designer” system – mainly men who determined hem lengths and silhouettes for women. But in 1973, the French body governing high fashion added a new layer of designers, créateurs (literally “creators” or designers), who produced only ready-to-wear. In 1972 Zampatti opened her first Sydney boutique, inspired by informal shops she had seen in St Tropez. Zampatti offered women bright jumpsuits, art deco looks and peasant-inspired ease. She aimed to provide women clothes they wanted to wear. She draped the cloth and colours on herself. Like many women designers historically, she was alert to how her clothes made women customers look and feel. Zampatti remained the fit model for the whole range and would not produce anything in which she did not look and feel well. Zampatti saw her “clothes as a tracker of feminism”. The 1980s cemented Zampatti’s rise to prominence. She became a household name, even designing a car for women. In this time, personal expression became more important than unified looks dictated by designers. Zampatti’s Australian designing coincided with a new development in Italy: the stylisti. Small, focused family businesses alert to the zeitgeist and understanding quality flourished. It was an approach that emphasised quality and glamour. Zampatti identified talent. She employed well-known couturier Beril Jents on the shop floor after she had fallen on hard times. She then employed Jents to improve the cut of her designs. Zampatti continued to embrace the services of stylists and other designers including Romance was Born, whom she recognised could take her work to the next level. <h2>The stories of clothes</h2> Worn equally by politicians and their circles on the right and the left, Zampatti injected more than power dressing into women’s wardrobes. She inspired a sense that women wore the clothes, not the clothes them. In this exhibition we are given many examples, from Linda Burney’s red pantsuit worn for her parliamentary portrait to a gown worn by Jennifer Morrison to the White House. The exhibition viewer can turn from serried ranks of brilliantly styled mannequins and enter large “listening pods”, screening brilliantly edited videos in the manner of artist Bill Viola. The women, who include Dame Quentin Bryce and Ita Buttrose, discuss the creative mind of Zampatti or reflect on their own Zampatti wardrobe. They are amongst the best such “talking heads” I have seen in a museum. Like many designers, Zampatti was not that interested in her own past. She did not keep substantial archives and records, which is a testament to the skills demonstrated by the museum in bringing us this show. Zampatti never turned her back on her personal story, but she was a futurist, one who looked forward rather than backward. Image credits: Getty Images This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/clothes-women-wanted-to-wear-a-new-exhibition-explores-how-carla-zampatti-saw-her-designs-as-a-tracker-of-feminism-194040" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>.

Beauty & Style

Lynette’s former colleague “saw bruises” on her throat

Lynette Dawson’s former colleague has claimed she saw bruises on the nurse's throat before she disappeared 40 years ago. Chris Dawson has pleaded not guilty to murdering his wife Lynette, who went missing from the family home in Sydney's Northern Beaches in January 1982. Annette Leary, Lynette’s former colleague, told the NSW Supreme Court that she had asked Lynette about the bruises on her neck after the pair had attended a couple’s counselling session. "She said that Chris had grabbed her throat and shook her a little and said 'if this doesn't work, I'm getting rid of you...I am only doing it once'," Leary told the court, Nine News reported. A few days after their conversation, Lynette’s contract with the hospital ended following a phone call from Dawson saying she needed time away. "Lyn had gone away, she needed some time out and he didn't know when she was coming back,” centre director Barbara Cruise recalled at court. Cruise told the judges that she was doubtful that Lynette had left on her own accord and looked up her mother’s phone number before raising the alarm. It comes as the former babysitter, who became Dawson's mistress and then his wife, has taken the stand at his murder trial. The woman, who has been known only as JC throughout the high-profile trial, first met Dawson in 1980 when he was her Year 11 sports teacher at Cromer High School. The following year, the teenager had moved in with Dawson, his wife Lynette, and their two children to work as their live-in babysitter. She told the judges that Dawson had driven her to a pub in western Sydney, claiming to have wanted to hire a hitman to kill Lynette. "I went inside to get a hitman to kill Lyn and then I decided I couldn't do it because innocent people could be hurt,” JC said. The conversation was kept private until 1990, when Dawson and JC split - she rejects claims that she made it up during the divorce and custody battle. The trial continues. Images: Nine News

Legal

Brain surgeon claims he saw the afterlife while in a coma

An academic neurosurgeon has recalled the "life-changing" near-death experience he claims he had while deep in a coma as his brain was ravaged by a rare bacterial infection. Dr. Eben Alexander told The Sun that before his near-death experience (NDE), his many years as a doctor made him skeptical at the idea of an afterlife, rather believing that our consciousness dies at the same time as our bodies. However, after his "life-changing" and "profound" NDE, the 68-year-old has experienced a "180-degree flip" in his belief system, claiming to have seen heaven with his own eyes, calling it more real and alive than the realm we currently inhabit. “I basically used to have a very conventional, scientific and reductive materialist view that consciousness was created by the brain, and that only the physical world exists,” Dr Alexander said. “And what my coma journey showed me … is that consciousness is something that is fundamental in the universe and does not originate in the brain." “What I experienced was the most extraordinary, memorable, detailed, and ultra-real experience of my entire life,” Alexander continued. “In fact, the world we live in, this material world, is more kind of cloudy and dreamlike than what I saw on the other side." “That world is sharp, crisp and alive – and very real.” On the morning of November 10, 2008, Dr Alexander woke up with severe pains in his back and what he described as "the worst headache of his life". After being transported to Lynchburg General Hospital, where he worked as a neurosurgeon, he discovered he had contracted an incredibly rare and aggressive form of E. coli meningoencephalitis, which had started to gnaw away at his brain. He was hastily placed in an induced coma and onto a ventilator, with his chances of survival diminishing by the hour. According to Dr Alexander, his medical records show that his brain was "very badly damaged", with his brainstem also in "deep trouble". As his chance of survival dipped to just 10 percent, loved ones gathered by his bedside, and although it seemed his grip on life was loosening, he insists his spirit had travelled to another realm in which he was experiencing a “re-birth”. “People think going through this experience, in this state of almost amnesia, must’ve been very horrific,” he told The Sun, “and yet, I knew nothing else as a possibility, and therefore, to me, it all just seemed natural." “This was existence. There was nothing foreboding about it." Dr Alexander claims he was in a dream-like forest with plush clouds, tall trees, sweeping valleys and groups of joyous people dancing. He says he spoke telepathically with a woman who told him, “You are loved. You are cherished. There is nothing you can do wrong.” His peace in this heavenly realm was soon interrupted as he was thrown into an infinite depth and darkness before waking up. As he regained his consciousness, he started to think he had truly glimpsed the afterlife. “Those memories of that kind of [infinite depth] psychotic nightmare disappeared within a week or two, compared to memories of the deep coma experience, which was sharp, crisp, vivid, alive and detailed today, as if the whole thing just happened." “As more than half of people who’ve had an NDE will tell you, it’s a much more real existence than this existence in the material world.” Image: Getty Images

Mind

We just spent two weeks surveying the Great Barrier Reef – What we saw was an utter tragedy

The Australian summer just gone will be remembered as the moment when human-caused climate change struck hard. First came drought, then deadly bushfires, and now a bout of coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef – the third in just five years. Tragically, the 2020 bleaching is severe and the most widespread we have ever recorded. Coral bleaching at regional scales is caused by spikes in sea temperatures during unusually hot summers. The first recorded mass bleaching event along Great Barrier Reef occurred in 1998, then the <a href="http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/change/archive/media99.shtml">hottest year on record</a>. Since then we’ve seen four more mass bleaching events – and more temperature records broken – in 2002, 2016, 2017, and again in 2020. This year, February had the<a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-15/cyclone-great-barrier-reef-bleaching-record-seas-temperatures/12050102"> highest monthly sea surface temperatures</a> ever recorded on the Great Barrier Reef since the Bureau of Meteorology’s records began in 1900. Not a pretty picture We surveyed 1,036 reefs from the air during the last two weeks in March, to measure the extent and severity of coral bleaching throughout the Great Barrier Reef region. Two observers, from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, scored each reef visually, repeating the same procedures developed during early bleaching events. The accuracy of the aerial scores <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature21707?dom=icopyright&src=">is verified</a> by underwater surveys on reefs that are lightly and heavily bleached. While underwater, we also measure how bleaching changes between shallow and <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-05741-0">deeper reefs</a>. Of the reefs we surveyed from the air, 39.8% had little or no bleaching (the green reefs in the map). However, 25.1% of reefs were severely affected (red reefs) – that is, on each reef more than 60% of corals were bleached. A further 35% had more modest levels of bleaching. Bleaching isn’t necessarily fatal for coral, and it affects <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-much-coral-has-died-in-the-great-barrier-reefs-worst-bleaching-event-69494">some species more than others</a>. A pale or lightly bleached coral typically regains its colour within a few weeks or months and survives. But when bleaching is severe, many corals die. In 2016, half of the shallow water corals died on the northern region of the Great Barrier Reef <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0041-2">between March and November</a>. Later this year, we’ll go underwater to assess the losses of corals during this most recent event. Compared to the four previous bleaching events, there are fewer unbleached or lightly bleached reefs in 2020 than in 1998, 2002 and 2017, but more than in 2016. Similarly, the proportion of severely bleached reefs in 2020 is exceeded only by 2016. By both of these metrics, 2020 is the second-worst mass bleaching event of the five experienced by the Great Barrier Reef since 1998. The unbleached and lightly bleached (green) reefs in 2020 are predominantly offshore, mostly close to the edge of the continental shelf in the northern and southern Great Barrier Reef. However, offshore reefs in the central region were severely bleached again. Coastal reefs are also badly bleached at almost all locations, stretching from the Torres Strait in the north to the southern boundary of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. For the first time, severe bleaching has struck all three regions of the Great Barrier Reef – the northern, central and now large parts of the southern sectors. The north was the worst affected region in 2016, followed by the centre in 2017. In 2020, the cumulative footprint of bleaching has expanded further, to include the south. The distinctive footprint of each bleaching event closely matches the location of <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature21707?dom=icopyright&src=">hotter and cooler conditions in different years</a>. Poor prognosis Of the five mass bleaching events we’ve seen so far, only 1998 and 2016 occurred during <a href="http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/updates/articles/a008-el-nino-and-australia.shtml">an El Niño</a> – a weather pattern that spurs warmer air temperatures in Australia. But as summers grow hotter under climate change, we no longer need an El Niño to trigger mass bleaching at the scale of the Great Barrier Reef. We’ve already seen the first example of back-to-back bleaching, in the consecutive summers of 2016 and 2017. The gap between recurrent bleaching events is shrinking, hindering a full recovery. After five bleaching events, the number of reefs that have escaped severe bleaching continues to dwindle. Those reefs are located offshore, in the far north and in remote parts of the south. The Great Barrier Reef will continue to lose corals from heat stress, until global emissions of greenhouse gasses are reduced to net zero, and sea temperatures stabilise. Without urgent action to achieve this outcome, it’s clear our coral reefs will not survive business-as-usual emissions. Written by Terry Hughes and Morgan Pratchett. Republished with permission of <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-just-spent-two-weeks-surveying-the-great-barrier-reef-what-we-saw-was-an-utter-tragedy-135197">The Conversation.</a>

Travel Tips

Revealed: Why we never saw Queen Elizabeth’s baby bump

Not many may notice it, but the public or press have never been treated to pictures of Queen Elizabeth with a ‘baby bump,’ although she gave birth four times. Her Majesty’s pregnancy was never closely photographed - which is a strange notion considering the more recent royal pregnancies, since Princess Diana, have been closely followed. However, their is a reason why Queen Elizabeth kept her growing tummy away from the spotlight and it is mainly due to the taboo nature of pregnancies at the time. As reported by the New York Times, Buckingham Palace released a mysterious statement in 1948, explaining the then 22-year-old Princess Elizabeth had fallen pregnant without either confirming or denying the fact. "Her Royal Highness the Princess Elizabeth will undertake no public engagements after the end of June," the statement read. Five months later, the royal welcomed baby Prince Charles on November 14. Interestingly enough, there were no hospital step photos or “first photos” of the royal baby - instead, Princess Elizabeth remained hidden for a month. Her Majesty was reportedly in labor for 22 hours before having to go under an emergency caesarean at Buckingham Palace. It is widely believed that Prince Philip was not in the room with her as he had been playing squash at the time of his first born’s arrival. The Queen later gave birth to her first and only daughter, Princess Anne in 1950 at Clarence house, then Prince Andrew in 1960 and Prince Edward in 1964 both back at Buckingham palace. Princess Diana was the very first royal to ever give birth at a hospital - one of many traditions she broke while pregnant with her first son, Prince William who was born at the Lindo Wing at St Mary’s hospital. She reportedly told biographer Andrew Morton the stress from press was “unbearable.” It is reported by biographer, Andrew Morton that she told him "I couldn't handle the press pressure any longer, it was becoming unbearable. "It was as if everybody was monitoring every day for me." Scroll through the gallery to see the Queen Elizabeth with her four children.

Beauty & Style

"I never saw any evidence of marriage": New book claims Donald and Melania Trump lead separate lives

A new book on Donald Trump has claimed that he and his wife Melania Trump live separate lives, with the 45th US President and First Lady only remaining together out of an arrangement. Following his commercially successful expose Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House, Michael Wolff has released another book on Trump’s presidency. In new book Siege: Trump Under Fire, Wolff claims that the speculations surrounding the First Lady – including rumours of a body double, an extended hospital stay, delayed relocation to the White House and multiple on-record slip-ups – are indications that the Trumps’ relationship is merely for publicity purposes. Wolff told <a href="https://www.news.com.au/world/north-america/inside-the-trump-marriage-michael-wolff-book-claims-donald-and-melania-lead-separate-lives/news-story/782af09528c7696217d116fd1460ff7d">The Australian</a> that the couple’s marriage is a “deal” that is akin to the rumoured relationship contract between Hollywood stars Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes. The book, which cites more than 100 sources, features Trump’s former director campaign and adviser Steve Bannon. “I never saw any evidence of a marriage,” Bannon said as quoted in the book. He told Wolff that most mentions of the First Lady “drew a puzzled look from Trump, as if to say, ‘How is she relevant?’” Wolff also claimed that the First Lady’s delayed move from New York to the White House also spoke volumes. “Indeed, a distraught Melania, repeatedly assured by her husband during the campaign that there was no possibility he would win, had originally refused to move to Washington,” Wolff wrote. “And, in fact, the First Lady was not really in the White House. It had taken Melania almost six months to officially relocate from New York to Washington, but that was in name only.” However, many news outlets have expressed doubts over the claims in Wolff’s new book. “The book is full of stuff that is lurid and sensational, but so dubious in its attributions that even in a review setting I’m afraid to repeat them,” wrote Matt Taibbi of <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/michael-wolff-siege-book-taibbi-review-844398/" target="_blank">Rolling Stone</a>. According to CNN political analyst Ryan Lizza, the book also contains “factual errors that mar the author’s credibility”. While Trump has not commented on the new Siege book, he rejected Wolff’s claims in Fire and Fury, describing the book as “the Fake Book of a mentally deranged author, who knowingly writes false information”.

Books

3 people who came back to life reveal what they saw on “the other side”

It’s the question we’ve all asked: What happens after death? These people say they have an idea. Can people really see things when they’re “dead”? No matter what you believe about the afterlife (or lack thereof), there’s no denying that plenty of people have claimed to see visions or have out-of-body experiences after their hearts have stopped. Sceptics might brush those off, but researchers have found that most near-death experiences tend to have common themes: Feelings of leaving or returning to their bodies, a sense of peace, bright lights, and encounters with spirits or people. In fact, medical treatment is good enough now that there’s a difference between clinical death (no breath or pulse, but could still be resuscitated) and biologic death (actually dead). Even cynics might get chills hearing about these otherworldly visions from people who were clinically dead or close to it. 1. “The most glorious feeling” In 1994, orthopaedic surgeon Tony Cicoria called his mum from a pay phone during a lake house trip. They’d hung up but he still had the phone in his hand when a blue flash came out. He hadn’t realised there’d been a lightning storm brewing. He felt his body fly backward – and then, confusingly, forward. Cicoria turned around to see his own body lying on the ground. “I’m dead,” he thought. No grief. No ecstasy. Just a fact. After watching a woman start CPR, Cicoria moved on, floating up the stairs to see his kids getting their faces painted, realising that they’d be OK. “Then I was surrounded by a bluish-white light … an enormous feeling of wellbeing and peace,” he told the New Yorker. “The highest and lowest points of my life raced by me. I had the perception of accelerating, being drawn up… There was speed and direction. Then, as I was saying to myself, ‘This is the most glorious feeling I have ever had’ – slam! I was back.” (Weird side note: The doctor who revived Cicoria became overwhelmed with the urge to play and write piano music.) 2. “Just love. Unconditional love.” After a four-year battle with lymphatic cancer, Anita Moorjani slipped into a coma in 2006. Doctors were sure it was the end – not realising that in her near-death state, she still had a consciousness. Initially, she felt like she was floating above her body with “360-degree peripheral vision” of the hospital room and beyond, she told TODAY. She couldn’t see her late father himself, but she did feel his presence, and he had a message for her. “He said that I’ve gone as far as I can, and if I go any further, I won’t be able to turn back,” she said. “But I felt I didn’t want to turn back because it was so beautiful. It was just incredible because, for the first time, all the pain had gone. All the discomfort had gone. All the fear was gone. I just felt so incredible. And I felt as though I was enveloped in this feeling of just love. Unconditional love.” About 30 hours after falling into a coma, Moorjani flickered back into consciousness. Two days later, her organs started to regain function and the tumours started shrinking. Now she’s cancer-free and is a public speaker and author of books like What If This Is Heaven?. 3. “It was really bright” Annabel Beam had been diagnosed with two chronic, life-threatening digestive disorders at age four. By age eight, she was ready to give up until something unexplainable happened. She was sitting on a tree branch 10 metres in the air when it cracked; she fell all the way down and into a hollow at the base of the tree, where she was trapped for six hours. She says she died and went to heaven: “It was really bright, and I sat on Jesus’s lap and he told me, ‘Whenever the firefighters get you out, there will be nothing wrong with you,’” Beam told TODAY. “And I asked him if I could stay and he said, ‘No, I have plans you need to fulfil on Earth that you cannot fulfil in heaven.’” When she woke up, her illness had healed. Her mum wrote the book Miracles from Heaven, which was later turned into a film. Written by Marissa Laliberte. Republished with permission of <a href="https://www.wyza.com.au/articles/lifestyle/11-people-who-came-back-to-life-reveal-what-they-saw-on-%E2%80%9Cthe-other-side%E2%80%9D/page/1">Wyza.com.au.</a>

Art

The embarrasing mistake that saw Shark Tank judges reject a $1.37 billion idea

Investors on the US version of Shark Tank have just realised the huge mistake they made in turning down an entrepreneur who just sold his company to Amazon for US$1 billion (NZ$1.37 billion). Jamie Siminoff approached the sharks with his product, a smart video doorbell called Ring, which allows people to answer their door via their smartphone – even if they’re not home. <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 658px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media"> <div style="padding: 8px;"> <div style="background: #F8F8F8; line-height: 0; margin-top: 40px; padding: 50% 0; text-align: center; width: 100%;"> <div style="background: url(data:image/png; base64,ivborw0kggoaaaansuheugaaacwaaaascamaaaapwqozaaaabgdbtueaalgpc/xhbqaaaafzukdcak7ohokaaaamuexurczmzpf399fx1+bm5mzy9amaaadisurbvdjlvzxbesmgces5/p8/t9furvcrmu73jwlzosgsiizurcjo/ad+eqjjb4hv8bft+idpqocx1wjosbfhh2xssxeiyn3uli/6mnree07uiwjev8ueowds88ly97kqytlijkktuybbruayvh5wohixmpi5we58ek028czwyuqdlkpg1bkb4nnm+veanfhqn1k4+gpt6ugqcvu2h2ovuif/gwufyy8owepdyzsa3avcqpvovvzzz2vtnn2wu8qzvjddeto90gsy9mvlqtgysy231mxry6i2ggqjrty0l8fxcxfcbbhwrsyyaaaaaelftksuqmcc); display: block; height: 44px; margin: 0 auto -44px; position: relative; top: -22px; width: 44px;"></div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/2oucHqgEEf/" target="_blank">A post shared by Ring (@ring)</a> on May 13, 2015 at 1:57pm PDT </div> </blockquote> At the time of his pitch, Siminoff valued the company at just $7 million, and offered the sharks a chance to get in at the ground floor for $700,000, which would give them a 10 per cent stake in the company. In what’s now the most embarrassing moment in the show’s history, the sharks brutally shut Siminoff and his idea down, with one shark even telling him, “You’re dead to me,” after a counter offer was rejected. See the embarrassing moment below. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6UPwDIBiAzE" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen=""></iframe> Image credit: Shark Tank.

Money & Banking

The only time Princess Margaret ever saw the Queen cry

Queen Elizabeth is the longest reigning monarch in British history and throughout the years has continually portrayed herself in a stoic and composed manner. However, a new documentary Elizabeth: Our Queen has revealed the one-time Princess Margaret ever saw her older sister cry. Princess Josephine Loewenstein, who was a close friend of Margaret, revealed in the documentary that Margaret confided in her about the rare moment. “I’ve only seen my sister cry once,” she said Princess Margaret told her. “It was when the press put all the articles about her not getting on with Mrs [Margaret] Thatcher.” It was widely speculated for years that the former Prime Minister and the Queen had a difficult relationship. <a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/5719375/queen-cried-margaret-thatcher-feud/" target="_blank">The Sun</a> formerly reported that the Queen once exclaimed, “Can’t that woman just sit down?” once when Margaret Thatcher was staying at Balmoral. It is believed that Margaret was intimidated by the Queen and would reportedly drink whiskey before their weekly visits for a spurt of courage.

Mind

Shark attack: "I saw its teeth coming at me"

A British doctor surfing at Avoca Beach on the Central Coast has narrowly avoided a fishy fate while surfing, by punching a shark that had tried to attack him. It sounds like a scene from Jaws, but 25-year-old Charlie Fry managed to narrowly avoid disaster by channelling his inner-Mick Fanning when the shark crossed his passed. The marine creature reportedly bit him on the arm and shoulder just after his missed a wave. He’d be surfing with his two mates at around 4pm on Monday. <iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2F7NewsMelbourne%2Fvideos%2F10156027682694301%2F&show_text=0&width=560" width="560" height="315" style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe> "I felt a smack on my right shoulder and when I turned around the shark breach and I saw its jaw and teeth coming at me,” he told <a href="http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/" target="_blank">The Daily Telegraph</a>. “I just punched it with my left hand and shouted out to my mates and paddled so hard back to shore. “It was terrifying but it only lasted five seconds. I’ll get to tell the story for the rest of my life.” Mr Fry has been working as a doctor at Gosford Hospital for about two months, although he reportedly isn’t in a rush to let mum back at home know about the attack. “Geez I don’t know if I can tell mum, she might kill me,” he said. “I’ve just got here and I’ve already been attacked. “People keep asking me what shark it was but I have no idea. All I know is that it was big and scary.” What are your thoughts? Have you ever had a close encounter in the surf? Have you arranged your travel insurance yet? Save money with Over60 Travel Insurance. <a href="https://elevate.agatravelinsurance.com.au/oversixty?utm_source=over60&utm_medium=content&utm_content=link1&utm_campaign=travel-insurance" target="_blank">To arrange a quote, click here.</a> Or for more information, call 1800 622 966.

Cruising

The first movie I ever saw in cinemas

Going to the cinemas is an activity that is enjoyed by all ages alike. Being immersed in a film for two hours is not only entertaining but going to the cinemas is a social outing that also leaves us with great memories. Here are some of the films the Over60 community saw on their first trip the pictures. 1. Bambi, 1942 <img width="500" height="750" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/35750/bambi_500x750.jpg" alt="Bambi"/> “My first was Bambi. My sister 18 months older than me was going with friends, I badgered her to go too but she refused. For once my Mum (reclusive) decided I should go and took me herself. My sister was furious when we turned up. I did wonder later if Mum was checking up on her instead of being kind to me. I suppose I will never know but the film was fantastic!” – Mary Bennett 2. The Sound of Music, 1965 <img width="500" height="709" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/35751/sound-of-music_500x709.jpg" alt="Sound Of Music"/> “Mum took my brother and I to see The Sound of Music I was around seven years old loved it. My brother about five at the time said that the best part was the drumstick ice cream at the interval.” – Karen Bruce 3. Fantasia, 1940 <img width="499" height="820" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/35752/fantasia_499x820.jpg" alt="Fantasia"/> “The first I remember would be Fantasia – I can't remember how old I was but the ‘Sorcerer's Apprentice’ scared the dickens out of me.” – Chris Simms 4. The Ten Commandments, 1956 <img width="500" height="744" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/35753/ten-commandments_500x744.jpg" alt="Ten Commandments"/> “Going back years ago, we used to get two movies and a half time then watch the second movie. [My first movie] was Ten Commandments. We paid 20 cents to see movies.” – Dot and Trevor Dixon 5. The Wizard of Oz, 1939 <img width="499" height="745" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/35754/wizard-of-oz_499x745.jpg" alt="Wizard Of Oz"/> “My elder sister got scared by the wicked witch so we had to leave.” – Kerryn McDonnell 6. Sleeping Beauty, 1959 <img width="499" height="735" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/35755/sleeping-beauty_499x735.jpg" alt="Sleeping Beauty"/> “I used to go to the cinema on Saturday mornings along with most of the local kids. We got a main movie, a cartoon and an episode of a serial, all for sixpence. Sixpence more for sweets and a drink. For a shilling for each child the local mums had three hours free on Saturday mornings and most of us walked there and back with friends. The first film I can remember seeing was Sleeping Beauty with the scariest witch ever!” – Nita Crompton 7. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, 1937 <img width="500" height="749" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/35756/snow-white_500x749.jpg" alt="Snow White"/> “My earliest memory is Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. My big brother took me and I was probably about 4 at the time.” – Alistair McAllister 8. Journey to the Centre of the Earth, 1959 <img width="500" height="750" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/35757/journey-to-the-centre-of-the-earth_500x750.jpg" alt="Journey To The Centre Of The Earth"/> “The first film I remember seeing in the cinema was Journey To The Centre of the Earth with James Mason and Pat Boone which would have been around 1960 when I would have been about seven. I will always remember the scenes with the prehistoric animals that scared me to death at the time.” – Phil Ross 9. King Kong, 1976 <img width="500" height="765" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/35758/king-kong_500x765.jpg" alt="King Kong"/> “The very first version of King Kong. Not many believe me when I tell them a few people saw the giant animals and ran screaming from the cinema.” - Mark Giaquinto 10. The Parent Trap, 1961 <img width="500" height="765" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/35759/parent-trap_500x765.jpg" alt="Parent Trap"/> “My dad took me to Melbourne for my birthday when I was quite young to see the Parent Trap starring Hayley Mills.” - Kathy Pearce What was the first movie you saw at the cinemas? Let us know in the comments below.

Movies

I saw the best of Europe on an Imperial Danube cruise

Justine Tyerman, 61, is a New Zealand journalist, travel writer and sub-editor. Married for 36 years, she lives in rural surroundings near Gisborne on the East Coast of New Zealand with her husband Chris. Sitting on the deck of a sinking ship, drinking French rosé and rearranging the deck chairs to get a better view of the sunset as the theme song to Titanic played quietly in the background is one of the more bizarre experiences of my life. Far from exhibiting panic, the 180 passengers were intrigued as the MS Beethoven descended at a rate of a half a metre a minute alongside another ship, sinking at precisely the same speed. We were having an animated conversation with our new shipboard friends from the United States about Jim’s days as a speech writer for JFK during the Cuban missile crisis, Ilse’s work as a gold assayist, and America’s apparently constant need to deliver other countries from strife. As the ship went down, Jim talked of the many ‘Strategicstans’ and ‘Tragicstans’ that seem to necessitate US intervention. Having met at a tennis match in Florida only 18 months earlier, they were in their 60s but still dewy-eyed and holding hands. The sun was setting over the Danube as the 110-metre long, 11.4-metre wide French-owned ship entered Gabchikovo Lock in Slovakia - the largest of the four we negotiated on our eight-day river cruise - and began descending at an impressive speed. Within minutes, we slipped from the warm glow of the golden pink sunset into the cool, grey gloom of the gigantic, concrete-walled shaft. Half an hour later, the lock doors opened, we emerged 20 metres lower, and continued our satin smooth cruise towards Vienna, bathed in the soft light of summer dusk. It was the last of our eight happy days on the CroisiEurope Imperial Danube Cruise through Austria, Hungary and Slovakia, beginning and ending in Vienna. The itinerary provided the perfect mix of relaxation, sightseeing and entertainment for us as novice cruisers, with informative guided tours of Vienna, Melk Abbey and Dürnstein in Austria, Bratislava and Sturovo in Slovakia, and Kalocsa, Puszta, Budapest and Esztergom in Hungary. At the gala dinner that evening we met up with our regular tablemates, three lively girls from Picton, Marlene, Lynne and Aileen, the only other Kiwis on the ship. Marlene and Lynne had known each other for 50 years while Aileen had joined them "quite recently", just 20 years ago. They had travelled together since the 1990s. Bottles of French Grenache Syrah and Merlot arrived at the table delivered by our charming young Hungarian wine waiter Konrad while our Hungarian waitress Csilla, whose smile and sparkling blue eyes were so infectious I just wanted to hug her, served the first of four delicious, elegantly-presented courses - Duck Foie Gras in a Gingerbread Case with Compote of Damson and Brioche. Raising our glasses to toast fine company and a happy week, we shared highlight-of-the-cruise, a variation of the highlight-of-the-day tradition my husband Chris initiated when our children were young. As a lover of history, I was enthralled with all the excursions that covered the fascinating Habsburg dynasty and 640-year era of the Austro-Hungarian Empire which ended in 1918 - the magnificently ornate winter and summer palaces in Vienna, and 18th century baroque Melk Abbey with its glorious gardens. Chris relished the energetic hike to the castle above Dürnstein, a jewel of a village in the verdant apricot and grapegrowing Wachau Valley, the most picturesque part of the cruise. Steeped in history, the castle acquired fame as the place where the English king, Richard the Lionheart was held prisoner in 1192, by Duke Leopold V of Austria after their dispute during the Third Crusade. Marlene, Lynne and Aileen loved the Mozart and Strauss concert complete with opera singers and ballet dancers at Vienna’s gorgeous Auersperg Palace, our visit to a ranch on the vast prairie lands of Puszta in Hungary where whip-cracking Cuman horsemen put on a thrilling display of their superb horsemanship, and the "Pearl of the Danube", Budapest by night where many historic buildings and bridges were illuminated in a dazzling show of colour and light. Others chimed in with their highlights. Budapest was a winner with its magnificent cathedral, churches, castle, Fisherman’s Bastion, theatres, baths, Parliament buildings, markets and grand Heroes’ Square with statues of the leaders of the seven tribes that founded Hungary in the 9th century. Many were fascinated by the little Hungarian village of Kalocsa, where we saw brightly-coloured hand embroidery, a traditional house with hand-painted flowers on the walls and a museum devoted to the growing of paprika, highly-prized as a major export and the key ingredient in the goulash, the national dish. Esztergom also left a lasting impression. The first capital of Hungary under the Arpad kings, it was the birthplace of King Stephen who was crowned in 1001 as the first Christian king of Hungary. The huge basilica on the hill above the town, completed in 1822, took 40 years to build and is the biggest and most beautiful in Hungary with a dome modelled on St Peter’s Cathedral in Rome. We drove across the Danube on the Maria Valeria Bridge to Sturovo in Slovakia which was bombed by the Germans in 1944 and only rebuilt in 2001. The girls were saddened at the ugliness of the soulless buildings erected during the Communist regime pointed out by our guide. In Bratislava, the capital city of Slovakia, Jim’s sharp eye for detail picked out the gargoyles on the rooftops as we toured the baroque palaces and town hall, St Martin’s Gothic Cathedral, the royal castle and the old town beyond the 13th century Michael’s Gate. As the mouth-watering Crispy Fillet of Quail and King Boletus Mushrooms with Parsley and Port Sauce arrived at the table, we toasted French cuisine, our brilliant chef Kanavor, and the hard working, earnest young men and women who had put such a huge effort into looking after us all week and had endeared themselves to all. Portuguese purser Sonia, who ran a super-efficient operation by day and in the evening was a star entertainer in the variety shows, deserved a special mention. And behind the scenes, while we slept, our highly-competent Hungarian captain, Hegyi and his crew, ensured we avoided the many hazards on the busy Danube waterway and delivered us to the next port of call safely, and on time. I had a peek at our captain one day, purring at the controls of the MS Beethoven in the state-of-the-art bridge, a job he said he absolutely loved. After a week, alarmed at the puzzling shrinkage of my clothes in the wardrobe, I had discovered the need for temperance to cope with the seductive nature of the French desserts - so by the time the Terrine of Blue Cheese with Heart of Pear arrived followed by Baked Alaska, Flambé in Grand Marnier, I decided a spoonful of each was quite sufficient . . . that was the theory anyway. The dinner table conversation then turned to the stress-free, relaxed nature of travel on a river ship, a major highlight for us. My hyperactive husband, whose primary concern at the beginning of the cruise was whether he would get enough exercise, was spotted drinking a second or third ice cold beer at lunchtime and snoozing on the deck in the afternoons, normal for most, unheard of for him. By day four, relaxation also set in for me and sleep came in gentle waves, leaving my sentences unfinished on an open iPad. Freedom from the necessity to navigate in and around cities, find accommodation, parking and food every day was bliss. And in a floating hotel, there was no need to pack and unpack every day which was a huge time-saver. Marlene, Lynne and Aileen were always on for any fun and joined in quizzes, dance lessons and games with great gusto. Later that evening, there was a diplomatic incident when the Kiwi girls defected to the French contingent during a quiz. Aileen managed to win a bottle of bubbly for the French team which brought loud accusations of fraternisation with the enemy, especially when she ended up on the dance floor with the best dancer on the ship, a debonair Frenchman of course. All up, it was agreed the CroisiEurope cruises were great value for money as all aspects of your lives as travellers were taken care of. The price (which equated to $300 per day, per person twin share, with Earlybird bookings), covered accommodation in comfortable, surprisingly-spacious twin or double-bed serviced cabins with ensuite bathrooms and huge picture windows, three superb gourmet meals a day (French cuisine), full table service for lunch and dinner including a selection of French wine and local beer with meals, the best local guides in the business, music, dancing and entertainment in the evenings. Air-conditioned coaches with multi-lingual guides were waiting at the ports to take passengers right to the heart of the sight-seeing spots - no parking hassles, no need to pore over guide books to figure out where to go and what to do in a limited time-period, no risk of getting lost. Passengers were then delivered back to the boat in time for another splendid meal while the ship made its way to the next port of call. I am reliably informed that not only are wine and beer included in the price for 2016, so too is an open bar for spirits, wine and beer, along with a wonderful selection of cocktails. For those like me, dubious about open-sea sailing, river cruising is a soft option. The motion is 100 percent smooth with no sense of swell or wave movement at all. But on a cruise, like any holiday, enjoyment is often measured by the calibre of the people you meet and the experiences shared. Marlene summed it up nicely: "We have so many happy memories of the river cruise not the least of which were the wonderful company and the fabulous crew who all went out of their way to make sure we were well taken care of." Doesn’t this sound like an incredible experience? Have you ever cruised before, and if so where? Let us know in the comments, we’d love to hear from you. Justine Tyerman travelled courtesy of <a href="http://www.innovative-travel.com" target="_blank">Innovative Travel Company</a>, the New Zealand representative for <a href="http://www.croisieurope.co.nz" target="_blank">CroisiEurope</a>. Related links: <a href="/travel/cruising/2016/07/14-candid-photos-show-what-a-mega-cruise-is-really-like/">14 candid photos show what a mega-cruise is really like</a> <a href="/travel/cruising/2016/07/royal-caribbeans-ovation-of-the-seas-in-numbers/">Royal Caribbean’s Ovation of the Seas in numbers</a> <a href="/travel/cruising/2016/07/5-cruise-destinations-to-escape-winter/">5 cruise destinations to escape winter</a>

Cruising

Over 60

News

Shop

Catalogues

Travel

Health

Lifestyle

Finance

Entertainment

Property

Information

Keep up to date