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Woman “bullied” on plane over budget seating trick

A young woman has recalled a flight from hell when she was “bullied” by a couple who were trying to utilise a seating hack that went viral on TikTok. The solo traveller took to Reddit to recount the story and ask social media users if she was in the wrong for her action. The woman began by saying she usually pays more to select her plane seat ahead of time, but a medical emergency on another plane had her waiting on standby and left with no option other than to sit in a middle seat. When she was finally able to board, she was greeted by a couple who had purchased both the window and aisle seats in a bid to have more space, utilising a travel “trick” that has been popular on TikTok. The method, which has been dubbed the 'poor man's business class', usually leaves travellers with an empty middle seat and more space, and few travellers opt to pick a middle seat. “When I got to my row the man and woman were chatting and sharing a snack... it was obvious they were together. I mentioned to the man that I'm in the middle, and he got up to let me in,” the unsuspecting traveller wrote on Reddit. “I asked them if they would prefer to sit together, I said I was totally okay with that. The woman reacted rudely to this and said ‘you're not supposed to be sitting here anyway’.” After noticing how the plane was full, she offered to show the pair her new ticket with the correct seat number on it. “She flicked her hand at my ticket and made a disgusted sound. I offered again if they wanted to sit together to which she didn't reply, her partner said it's okay and... made some small talk,” she continued. The man’s girlfriend then interrupted their conversation to ask,”'Did you use one of those third party websites to book your flight? It's so frustrating when people cheap out to inconvenience others.” The American woman explained that she had booked her flight directly and she had been placed on standby like everyone else and didn't choose the middle seat - she was assigned it. She then tried to keep the peace by refusing to engage with the furious woman. “I was so done with her attitude, I put my headphones on and attempted to do my own thing,” she explained. But the “entitled” girlfriend wasn't letting it go, as the woman explained, “This woman kept reaching over me and tapping her partner and trying to talk to him in a way that was super intrusive.” “I could tell even her partner was trying to engage her less so that she would hopefully stop, but she didn't.” “I think they tried to pull that tactic where they don't sit together on purpose...hoping no one will sit between them. But on full flights it doesn't work. And even so - it's not the other person's fault.” The traveller's post was met with hundreds of comments slamming the girlfriend’s behaviour, as one person wrote, “It's like a toddler having a tantrum.” “She was disappointed and a total a**hole. Gross entitled people,” another added. Another person applauded the traveller’s level-headed behaviour, writing, “Wow! You are my hero for keeping it classy - I’m afraid I would not have been as kind as you.” Image credits: Shutterstock

Travel Trouble

“I am the woman who took Harry’s virginity”

Speaking out for the first time in an exclusive interview with <a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/fabulous/21277348/woman-took-prince-harry-virginity/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Sun</a> on Sunday, the “older” woman detailed in Prince Harry’s memoir Spare has come forward to confirm that it was she who took the young royal’s virginity in a field behind a busy pub in Wiltshire in July 2001. Forty-year-old Sasha Walpole – who is two years older than Prince Harry – told the publication: “I am the woman who took Harry’s virginity. It was literally wham-bam between two friends.” The Sun went on to report that Mrs Walpole admitted that the encounter occurred after she and Harry had consumed 10 shots of tequila, Baileys and sambuca. “The sex was passionate and sparky because we shouldn’t have been doing it,” she said. “One thing just quickly led to another. We ended up on the floor.” The one-off encounter took place in a meadow behind the car park of the historic Vine Tree Inn in Norton, Wiltshire, in July 2001. Mrs Walpole and Prince Harry reportedly knew each other from when she was employed as a stable girl at Highgrove, the country retreat of the then Prince Charles. The evening in question was actually the occasion of Mrs Walpole’s 19th birthday, which was being celebrated at the pub – and the pair became intimate in the meadow after leaving the party. Afterwards Harry hid in a red phone box to avoid being seen, before one of Ms Walpole’s friends delivered a protection officer to the young prince in her blue Ford Fiesta. Mrs Walpole, now a married mum of two, said: “We went outside and both climbed a three-bar fence to the field. We were quite drunk at this point. I gave Harry a cigarette. I lit mine and then his. “We finished our cigarettes – Marlboro Lights – and it just happened. He started to kiss me. He was wearing boxers. There was no chatting, no words. It was exciting that it was happening. It was exciting that it was happening like the way it was. We were away for 15 minutes but the sex was about five minutes. “We didn’t set out to do it and it wasn’t premeditated. He was young. We had been purely friends and it was a little bit naughty, in the sense that it shouldn’t have been happening. “It wasn’t ‘Prince Harry’ to me. It was Harry, my friend – and something that got a little bit out of control. It just so happened that he was a prince. “Afterwards I did grab his bum and gave him a slap. It was with one hand. He had a lovely peachy bum – but he was young.” Mrs Walpole agreed to speak to The Sun after being left shocked by Harry’s disclosures in his book, and also went on to explain why she came forward. “No one warned me about the night being included in the book – and Harry, or his people, could have found me to tell me if they had wanted to do so,” she said. “I lead a peaceful life – I didn’t invite this.” “I don’t understand why he went into such detail. He could have said he lost his virginity and left it at that. But he described how it happened, in a field behind a pub. “That’s fine if you’re not the other person involved. But if you’re me, then you suddenly feel as if your world is getting a little bit smaller. He has done this to my privacy. “I was going to keep my head down and not talk about it. If it wasn’t in the book, none of this wouldn’t be happening. “I can sit quietly and hope it goes away, but then it is like a ticking timebomb, and you’re looking over your shoulder.” To listen to the entire interview with The Sun, <a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/fabulous/21277348/woman-took-prince-harry-virginity/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">head here</a>. Image: The Sun

News

It took scientists 100 years to track these eels to their breeding ground

The life of a European eel isn’t an easy one. They’re critically endangered, must travel up to 10,000 km to get to their spawning point and then when they get there they <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eel_life_history#European_eel" target="_blank" rel="noopener">probably die</a>. But they’re also incredibly difficult to keep track of. In the 1920s a Danish biologist named Johannes Schmidt, discovered the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sargasso_Sea" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sargasso Sea</a> – due east of North America – had eel larvae. He spent the next 20 years trying to confirm his finding. But in the century since, researchers have been unable to sample either eggs or spawning adults. Now, a team from Europe has published a paper in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-19248-8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Scientific Reports</a> that shows the first direct evidence of adult European eels migrating to the Sargasso Sea to breed. This provides vitally needed information on the life cycle of these slippery suckers. “The European Eel is critically endangered, so it is important that we solve the mystery surrounding their complete life-cycle to support efforts to protect the spawning area of this important species,” <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/ancient-mystery-of-european-eel-migration-unravelled-to-help-combat-decline-of-critically-endangered-species" target="_blank" rel="noopener">says project lead Ros Wright from the UK Environment Agency.</a> “This is the first time we’ve been able to track eels to the Sargasso Sea … Their journey will reveal information about eel migration that has never been known before.” The team attached satellite tags to 26 female eels that were in rivers in the Azores archipelago – an autonomous region of Portugal in the North Atlantic Ocean – and then waited. When tracking had been done before in areas within Europe, like the Baltic and North Sea, the migratory routes were tracked up to 5000 kilometres, but the tracking had not gone for long enough, and the eels were heading in the right direction, but never made it all the way to the Sargasso Sea. <div class="newsletter-box"> <div id="wpcf7-f6-p219813-o1" class="wpcf7" dir="ltr" lang="en-US" role="form"> </div> </div> “The data from the tags were used to identify migratory routes that extended up to 5000 km from release, and which suggested routes taken by eels migrating from different countries converge when passing the Azores,” <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-19248-8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the team wrote in their paper.</a> “However, although eels were tracked for six months or more, their migration speed was insufficient to reach the Sargasso Sea for the first presumed spawning period after migration commenced, prompting the hypothesis that the spawning migration period of eels may extend to more than 18 months.” So, the team went directly to Azores to try and get the last leg of the journey, tracking 26 of the female eels with ‘X tags’. These collect data every two minutes and when the tag releases from the eel and bobs to the surface it then connects to the ARGOS satellite. Of course, not every single one worked. Only 23 tags communicated with the system; two became detached from the eels within a week. But the remainder provided a wealth of data to the team. Average migration speed was between 3 and 12 kilometres a day, and they were tracked from 40 days all the way to 366 days. Five of the eels ended up in within the Sargasso Sea boundaries while one eel made it all the way to the presumed breeding area Schmidt discovered those many years before. This isn’t the first time that eels have been tracked in this way. A study published last year, also in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-02325-9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Scientific Reports</a>, which Cosmos covered at the time, looked at the spawning migrations of the Australasian short-finned eel. They found that the eels travelled for five months, around 2,620 km from south-Eastern Australia, as far north as the Coral Sea in Northern Queensland. The researchers in the European eel case still have much to do. The eels didn’t move fast enough to be able to make it to the spawning period on time, which means we still don’t really understand the life cycle. “Rather than make a rapid migration to spawn at the earliest opportunity, European eels may instead make a long, slow spawning migration at depth that conserves their energy and reduces mortality risk,” the team wrote. There’s also questions of what mechanisms the eels use to be able to correctly navigate to the Sargasso Sea. As usual in science, one answer has led to plenty more questions. <img id="cosmos-post-tracker" style="opacity: 0; height: 1px!important; width: 1px!important; border: 0!important; position: absolute!important; z-index: -1!important;" src="https://syndication.cosmosmagazine.com/?id=219813&title=It+took+scientists+100+years+to+track+these+eels+to+their+breeding+ground" width="1" height="1" /> <div id="contributors"> <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/nature/animals/european-eels-life-cycle-tracking-schmidt-sargasso-sea/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">This article</a> was originally published on Cosmos Magazine and was written by Jacinta Bowler. Image: Getty Images </div>

Family & Pets

When was the last time you took a bath?

When was the last time you had a bath? Does your home even have a bath tub? If you haven’t used it in a while, it’s actually quite interesting to ask whether your bathroom really needs it. Baths are perfect for parents with young children, to help them shower. Whether you’re thinking of moving house, it is possible that the potential new owners would prefer a bath. However, not every bathroom can have a bathtub because there is just not enough room. Bathtubs are also more prevalent in houses with three or more bedrooms. If you’re looking to sell, keep in mind that a bathtub itself does not exactly affect the value of the house, but is a preferred feature if the space is there. Image: Shutterstock

Home Hints & Tips

"I had no choice": Tragic reason why F1 boss took his own life

The heartbreaking reason why F1 boss Max Mosley committed suicide has been revealed. The 81-year-old was found dead with “significant injuries consistent with a gunshot wound”, <a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/18101716/max-mosley-shot-himsel-terminal-cancer-diagnosis/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Sun</a> reported. On Tuesday, the Westminster Coroner in London heard that Mosley had shot himself when he was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Following his terminal diagnosis, Mosley was told that he had “weeks” to live, and there was no cure for his chronic bladder and bowel pain. He was offered palliative care. Mosley was found dead lying in a pool of his blood with a double-barreled shotgun in between his knees on May 24, 2021. Outside on his bedroom door was a note that read: “Do not enter, call the police”. Police had also found a suicide note on the bedside table that was covered in blood. The only words they could make out were, “I had no choice”, the court heard. “It was obvious he had used the shotgun on himself and endured a life-ending injury. It’s clear he had injuries not compatible with life,” the coroner said. Mosley was referred to Dr Rasha Al-Quarainy, a consultant in palliative care from the Central and North West London NHS Trust, a month before his suicide. She told the courts that Mosley’s B-cell Lymphoma was “inoperable” and that he hadn’t mentioned any suicidal thoughts. “On the contrary he said that he had plans to renovate their home in Gloucestershire that wasn’t going to be finished until July. “He was still seeking treatment possibly in the US, possibly in the UK, and some other matters he spoke to me about.” Dr Christopher McNamara, a consultant haematologist, who had been treating Mosley since 2019, said he had spoken about his life. “He emailed me on 22 May 2021, these were questions about the management of the condition. He had accepted this would not be cured,” Dr McNamara said in court. “He was extremely upset as his quality of life was poor and left him uncomfortable. “He had expressed ideas of committing suicide to myself and other members of the team previously. “He never expressed a plan of doing this and all he said was that the problem was his wife would not accept this.” Image: Getty

Caring

If you took to growing veggies in the coronavirus pandemic, then keep it up when lockdown ends

The COVID-19 pandemic produced a run on the things people need to produce their own food at home, including <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-24/coronavirus-panic-buying-of-edible-plants-at-nurseries/12082988">vegetable seedlings, seeds</a> and <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/scramble-for-backyard-chooks-follows-egg-panic-buying-20200401-p54g28.html">chooks</a>. This turn to self-provisioning was prompted in part by the high price rises for produce – including <a href="https://www.perthnow.com.au/news/coronavirus/cauliflower-and-broccoli-among-healthy-vegetables-whose-prices-have-skyrocketed-during-coronavirus-pandemic-ng-b881501930z">A$10 cauliflowers and broccoli for A$13 a kilo</a> – and empty <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/food/2020/mar/27/ive-never-seen-it-like-this-why-vegetables-are-so-expensive-in-australia-at-the-moment">veggie shelves in some supermarkets</a>. As well as <a href="https://www.news.com.au/finance/business/retail/bunnings-diy-garden-shopping-frenzy-as-virus-lockdown-takes-hold/news-story/413857a8c40b44af21eb90a1f88a594f">hitting the garden centres</a> people looked online for information on growing food. Google searches for “<a href="https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&q=how%20to%20grow%20vegetables">how to grow vegetables</a>” hit an all-time worldwide high in April. Hobart outfit Good Life Permaculture’s video on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUqkZLSOdm0">Crisis Gardening - Fresh Food Fast</a> racked up over 80,000 views in a month. Facebook kitchen garden groups, such as <a href="https://www.facebook.com/SAKGF/videos/vb.107400965969813/2830266200384624/?type=3&theater">Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation</a>, sought to share information and inspiration. <h2>The good life</h2> Given the many benefits of productive gardening, this interest in increased self-sufficiency was an intelligent response to the pandemic situation. Experienced gardeners can produce enough fruit and vegetables year-round to supply two people from <a href="https://www.katlavers.com/the-plummery/">a small suburban backyard</a>. <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211335516301401" title="Gardening is beneficial for health: A meta-analysis">Productive gardening improves health</a> by providing contact with nature, physical activity and a healthier diet. Contact with <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6780873/" title="Does Soil Contribute to the Human Gut Microbiome?">good soil bacteria</a> also has positive health effects. While Australians have traditionally valued the feeling of independence imparted by a degree of self-sufficiency, psychological benefits arise from the <a href="https://uwap.uwa.edu.au/products/reclaiming-the-urban-commons">social connectedness encouraged by many forms of productive gardening</a>. Amid COVID-19, gardeners gathered online and community gardens around the world brought people together through gardening and food. In some areas, community gardens were <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/london/ontario-community-gardens-essential-1.5545115">declared essential because of their contribution to food security</a>. Although Australian community gardens paused their public programs, most remained open for gardening adhering to social distancing regulations. <img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/329929/original/file-20200423-47826-1iul3x5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="" /> Community gardens have an important role to play in food resilience. Andrea Gaynor <h2>We always dig deep in a crisis</h2> Vegetable gardening and poultry-keeping often surge in popularity during times of social or economic insecurity, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. These responses are built on an established Australian tradition of home food production, something I have <a href="http://www.environmentandsociety.org/sites/default/files/key_docs/harvest_of_the_suburbs__andrea_gaynor_with_title_and_content.pdf">researched in depth</a>. Yet history tells us it’s not easy to rapidly increase self-provisioning in times of crisis – especially for those in greatest need, such as unemployed people. This is another reason why you should plant a vegetable garden (or keep your current one going) even after the lockdown ends, <a href="https://www.sustain.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Urban-Agriculture-Manifesto-2020-1.pdf">as part of a broader suite of reforms</a> needed to make our food systems more fair and resilient. In the second world war, for example, Australian food and agricultural supply chains were disrupted. In 1942-3, as the theatres of war expanded and shortages loomed, the YWCA organised women into “<a href="https://www.awm.gov.au/articles/encyclopedia/homefront/victory_gardens">garden armies</a>” to grow vegetables and the federal government launched campaigns encouraging home food production. Community-based food production expanded, but it was not possible for everyone, and obstacles emerged. In Australia, there were disruptions in the supply of seeds, fertiliser and even rubber for garden hoses. In London, resourceful gardeners scraped pigeon droppings from buildings to feed their victory gardens. Another problem was the lack of gardening and poultry-keeping skills and knowledge. The Australian government’s efforts to provide good gardening advice were thwarted by local shortages and weather conditions. Their advertisements encouraging experienced gardeners to help neighbours may have been more effective. <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/334896/original/file-20200514-167768-brf3j3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/334896/original/file-20200514-167768-brf3j3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="" /></a> Australian government ‘Grow Your Own’ campaign advertising, 1943. National Archives of Australia, Author provided Home food production has also increased during times of economic distress. During the <a href="https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/great-depression">Great Depression</a> in the 1920s and 1930s, a health inspector in the inner suburbs of Melbourne reported, with satisfaction, that horse manure was no longer accumulating: <blockquote> … being very much in demand by the many unemployed who now grow their own vegetables. </blockquote> The high inflation and unemployment of the 1970s – as well as the oil shocks that saw steep increases in fuel prices – saw more people take up productive gardening as a low-cost recreation and buffer against high food prices. The urge to grow your own in a crisis is a strong one, but better preparation is needed for it to be an equitable and effective response. <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/329926/original/file-20200423-47804-pldop7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/329926/original/file-20200423-47804-pldop7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="" /></a> How to grow your own vegetables… as long as you like endive. Andrea Gaynor <h2>Beyond the pandemic</h2> The <a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/coronavirus-home-gardening-explosion-fruits-vegetables-lockdown/3cf0476b-9fe0-432e-b5c9-d37b9390a12f">empty shelves at nurseries and seed suppliers</a> seen earlier this year tell us we were again insufficiently prepared to rapidly scale up productive home gardening. We need to develop more robust local food systems, including opportunities for people to develop and share food production skills. These could build on established programs, such as western Melbourne’s <a href="https://mysmartgarden.org.au/">My Smart Garden</a>. Particularly in built-up urban areas, provision of safe, accessible, free or low-cost gardening spaces would enable everyone to participate. More city farms with livestock, large-scale composting and seed saving, can increase local supplies of garden inputs and buffer against external disruption. Like other crises before it, COVID-19 has exposed vulnerabilities in the systems that supply most Australians with our basic needs. While we can’t grow toilet paper or hand sanitiser, there is a role for productive gardens and small-scale animal-keeping in making food systems resilient, sustainable and equitable. Self-provisioning doesn’t replace the need for social welfare and wider food system reform. But it can provide a bit of insurance against crises, as well as many everyday benefits.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/135359/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/andrea-gaynor-285129">Andrea Gaynor</a>, Associate Professor of History, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-western-australia-1067">The University of Western Australia</a> This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/if-you-took-to-growing-veggies-in-the-coronavirus-pandemic-then-keep-it-up-when-lockdown-ends-135359">original article</a>. Image: Shutterstock

Home Hints & Tips

Piers Morgan admits he took Meghan Markle criticism “too far”

Good Morning Britain host Piers Morgan has confessed that he may have “taken things a bit too far” in his criticism of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex over the last two years. The controversial British figure has taken aim at Meghan Markle on a number of occasions, even going as far of “ditching” her family. He tweeted in January: “People say I'm too critical of Meghan Markle — but she ditched her family, ditched her Dad, ditched most of her old friends, split Harry from William and has now split him from the Royal Family. I rest my case.” Morgan even stirred up a feud with actress Jameela Jamil over the duchess after voicing his vicious opinions on the royals. He has since backtracked on his comments, admitting that his regular criticism of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex weren't "wise". <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: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/B7FPg17HFTV/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="12"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</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;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B7FPg17HFTV/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by AllNewsInc (@allnewsinc)</a> on Jan 8, 2020 at 6:20pm PST </div> </blockquote> "It's probably not wise, if you're a columnist, to make things too personal," he admitted to The Sunday Times. "Have I taken things a bit too far? Probably. Do I think that will govern and temper how I talk about them going forward? Absolutely." Morgan has been accused of holding a personal grudge against the duchess, whom he allegedly had a friendly relationship with before she joined the royal family. He claimed she "ghosted" him and abandoned their friendship after meeting Prince Harry. The presenter also confessed that "boredom" has played a role in his attitude towards the royals. "It's times of relative peace, calm, quiet and dare I say boredom that might occasionally bring out the worst in me," he admitted. "Having squabbles with people who are never going to change their mind in a million years about stuff that no longer seems remotely important."

How Greta Thunberg took the news of being named TIME's Person of the Year

Climate change activist Greta Thunberg has been named TIME Magazine’s youngest ever Person of the Year. She acknowledged the honour on her Instagram, saying: “Wow, this is unbelievable! I share this great honour with everyone in the FridaysForFuture movement and climate activists everywhere.” <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: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/B58C1l8JLox/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="12"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <a style="color: #000; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B58C1l8JLox/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">Wow, this is unbelievable! I share this great honour with everyone in the #FridaysForFuture movement and climate activists everywhere. @time</a> <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 post shared by <a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/gretathunberg/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank"> Greta Thunberg</a> (@gretathunberg) on Dec 11, 2019 at 8:04am PST </div> </blockquote> Naturally, the Swedish teen hasn’t let the global honour disrupt the work that she is known for and headed straight to the United Nation’s COP25 climate talks in Madrid. It was here that she demanded once again that world leaders pay attention to the world’s “climate emergency”. Thunberg commanded that global businesses and political leaders have to stop looking for loopholes for their countries’ actions. "A year and a half ago I didn't speak to anyone unless I really had to. But then I found a reason to speak," she told the talks in Madrid, according to MSN. "Since then I've given many speeches and learned that when you talk in public you should start with something personal or emotional to get everyone's attention. "But today I will not do that because then those phrases are all that people focus on. They don't remember the facts - the very reason why I said those things in the first place. "We no longer have time to leave out the science. For about a year, I have been constantly talking about or rapidly declining carbon budgets over and over again. "But since that is still being ignored, I will just keep repeating it." The 16-year-old then took aim at global leaders saying that they need to face up to the ambition that is required to protect the world from climate change. "The real danger is when politicians and CEOs are making it look like real action is happening, when in fact almost nothing is being done, apart from clever accounting and creative PR," she said in the speech. "Finding holistic solutions is what the COP should be all about, but instead it seems to have turned into some kind of opportunity for countries to negotiate loopholes and to avoid raising their ambition," she added.

International Travel

Natural history on TV: how the ABC took Australian animals to the people

Most of us will never see a platypus or a lyrebird in the wild, but it’s likely we’ve encountered them on television. <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10304312.2019.1669533">Our new research</a> looks at the vital role early ABC television played in making Australian animals accessible to audiences. In the early years of ABC TV, there was very little locally produced animal content. When animals were on the small screen, they were usually imported from the BBC. Foremost among the imports was David Attenborough’s <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0918481/">Zoo Quest</a> (1954–1964), following the young naturalist’s exploits in Guyana, Borneo and Paraguay collecting live animals for London Zoo. Zoo Quest was formative in the development of natural history television. It launched Attenborough’s career and established many of the cultural conventions of the format: the authoritative and intrepid male narrator venturing to exotic places in search of animals being their wild selves. For Attenborough, the thrill of showing animals in their natural states gave the show “<a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=1lHs8bTVh8oC&pg=PA8&lpg=PA8&dq=%22the+spice+of+unpredictability%22&source=bl&ots=PHg_-HorBL&sig=ACfU3U2rfkJS_gutZ9keb76WpQ2Ogzn7Iw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwid_7WvyK7lAhVDuI8KHVWSDJEQ6AEwAXoECAcQAQ#v=onepage&q=%22the%20spice%20of%20unpredictability%22&f=false">the spice of unpredictability</a>”. From the farm to the bush The initial strategy for local animal content by ABC TV was to use familiar radio techniques – panel talks and natural sounds – and just add pictures. Junior Farmer Competition, for instance, was a successful radio show. When it moved to television in 1958, live cattle, sheep and poultry were brought into the studio and competitors were asked to handle them before the cameras. This show was a remarkable experiment in visualising a radio format – but it didn’t last. The logistics of wrangling livestock in a TV studio proved too difficult. During the 1960s, the ABC began screening locally made wildlife shows. Wild animals were no longer somewhere else, in Africa or South America: they were all around us. Wildlife Australia (1962-1964) was written by ornithologist and radio broadcaster, Graham Pizzey and produced with the CSIRO. The series took viewers into unique Australian environments, and explored the native wildlife in these habitats. Other shows offered variations on this theme of an emerging environmental nationalism. Around the Bush (1964) starred naturalist and educator <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/environment/green-before-it-was-fashionable-20070912-gdr373.html">Vincent Serventy</a> out in the field; Wild Life Paradise: Australian Fauna (1967), was filmed at the Sir Colin Mackenzie Sanctuary (later Healesville Sanctuary) and offered content about what made Australian animals unique. As recurring references to Australia in these titles suggest, these shows were determinedly national. They often represented animals as living in “the bush” or “the environment”. This early reference to “the environment” framed it as a zone where nature and culture interacted – usually with bad outcomes for nature. As early as 1962, audiences were invited to look at animals as both fascinating and vulnerable. Animals and their habitats were framed as in need of public attention and concern in order to limit human intrusion and impact. While nature conservation movements had been around since the post WWII period, they often focused on preservation of scenic sites for human pleasure. This early environmentalism gave <a href="https://www.mup.com.au/books/defending-the-little-desert-paperback-softback">conservation a more political edge</a>. It valued nature in its own right and questioned development at all costs. Dancing Orpheus Probably the most groundbreaking early natural history show made by the ABC was <a href="https://aso.gov.au/titles/tv/dancing-orpheus/">Dancing Orpheus</a> (1962). Celebrated for its visual and technical prowess in capturing the secretive superb lyrebird, the most powerful scene showed a cock bird performing its elaborate courting display. The narration by John West offered scientific explanation, but the focus was on the extraordinary aesthetics of this pure natural expression. Dancing Orpheus was celebrated not just because it captured a rare and beautiful lyrebird performance, but because it also showed the emerging power of television to make remarkable Australian animals visible to audiences. Dancing Orpheus was one of the catalysts for the development of natural history television at the ABC, which really took off with the watershed series <a href="https://beyondtheestuary.com/fire-and-water-vale-charles-ken-taylor-poet-filmmaker-1930-2014/">Bush Quest with Robin Hill</a> (1970). Bush Quest featured the artist and naturalist Hill observing and sketching the wildlife of central and coastal Victoria. It established a new audience for Australian wildlife, breaking with earlier presentations of the remote bush or outback. Bush Quest cultivated a new environmental ethos in viewers increasingly aware of nature’s fragility. An ongoing legacy The ABC’s Natural History Unit was created in 1973. This small unit produced a suite of top rating programs that publicised a huge variety of Australian animals, way beyond the usual kangaroos and koalas. Its watershed moment was the internationally acclaimed series <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4590316/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1">Nature of Australia</a> (1988). Nature of Australia offered audiences an experience of national identification and pride based on our remarkable natural – rather than cultural or military – history. It put nature at the heart of definitions of national uniqueness. Early natural history television on the ABC showed audiences animals and places they didn’t even know existed, and explained natural processes in ways that were accessible and engaging. It also showed audiences how vulnerable these animals and habitats were to human actions and intervention. Natural history television on the ABC didn’t just make animals entertaining: it implicated audiences in their lives and survival, a significant factor in building environmental awareness. Written by Gay Hawkins. Republished with permission of <a href="https://theconversation.com/natural-history-on-tv-how-the-abc-took-australian-animals-to-the-people-125221">The Conversation.</a>

Art

End of economy perk we all took for granted

Passengers were less than impressed on their final 90-minute slog of the 22 hour long flight from London to Sydney. As many were looking forward to a hot breakfast, they were greeted with a sad little sandwich. This could soon be the new norm in economy long-haul flights. However, an aviation analyst has explained that as long-haul flights become the norm, hot breakfasts in economy could be a thing of the past. “It could be the end of the hot breakfast in economy,” one aviation analyst told <a href="https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-advice/flights/lufthansa-signals-end-to-economy-class-perk-we-all-took-for-granted/news-story/6804d7726aff3584156602e7d8a87d6c">news.com.au</a>. It seems like airlines could be following in the footsteps of the German giant airline Lufthansa, who let it slip that they were ditching their second hot meal on all flights of more than 10 hours in length. However, the airline didn’t put out a press release on the matter but it was picked up by airline blogs. “Over the past few months, we have carried out over 80 flights with various test scenarios. Thus, it was possible for us to establish a modern service according to current customer wishes thanks to feedback from our customers,” Lufthansa’s Asia-Pacific Head of Communications Klaus Pokorny told <a href="https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-advice/flights/lufthansa-signals-end-to-economy-class-perk-we-all-took-for-granted/news-story/6804d7726aff3584156602e7d8a87d6c">news.com.au</a>. “Many customers like the possibility of either enjoying this second meal immediately or packing it for the rest of their journey,” Pokorny explained. However, Qantas has insisted that they’re not following suit, although an aviation expert warns that others airlines might be tempted to follow the trend. “The price point for most people is the economy fare and so we now have these low fares airlines that aren’t actually low cost airlines,” the aviation consultant explained. “People will buy bundles off a base fare, like having a hot breakfast, and the airlines will end up with more revenue. “It’s the way of the future. It could be the end of the (included) hot breakfast in economy.”

Travel Trouble

The surprisingly ruthless approach Princess Diana took to her wedding guest list

The wedding of the Prince of Wales to Lady Diana Spencer was one of the most watched events in royal history, attracting an audience of 750 million people around the globe. Therefore, it’s safe to say that if you received an invitation to the wedding at St Paul’s Cathedral in London, you were of great importance to the Crown or to the couple. The royal guest list included 2,000 people, but Lady Diana’s family were only allowed to invite a small percentage of attendees. According to a late royal biographer, Lady Diana was ruthless in deciding who made the cut. Journalist and historian Kenneth Rose observed major events of the 20th Century closely and recorded them in his journals. Who Loses, Who Wins: The Journals of Kenneth Rose: Volume Two 1979 – 2014 has now been released after Roses’ death in 2014. In an entry dated August 8, 1981, Rose wrote about the royal wedding, according to <a rel="noopener" href="https://people.com/royals/10-bombshells-from-royal-biographers-secret-diary-including-service-to-lay-dianas-ghost-to-rest/" target="_blank">People</a>. "The Spencers were given 50 seats for St Paul's. "When Johnnie [Princess Diana's father] showed Diana his draft list, she crossed out all the family who had not bothered to come to the weddings of her sisters! "One day she will be very formidable." However, it wasn’t all sunshine and roses in Roses’ journals as by the summer of her wedding year, Diana’s boredom became clear to visitors of Balmoral. “The Prince [Charles] goes out at nine to shoot or fish, and she does not see him again until seven,” wrote Rose. [Duke Hussey who was married to the Queen’s lady-in-waiting] “wonders if he will make a sufficiently good king: he thinks not. The prince is too immature, and the contrast with the firm style of the Queen will be most marked.”

News

Thomas Cook bosses’ took home more than $36 million despite the company being in debt

As hundreds of thousands of tourists are stranded across the country, there have been furious calls for the top earners of travel firm Thomas Cook to hand back their multimillion dollar bonuses. In the past five years alone, 12 of the company’s top earners took home a shocking $36 million despite the company facing debts of $2.9 billion when it collapsed. This is according to the UK’s <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/09/22/thomas-cook-bosses-received-20m-bonuses-last-5-years-company/" target="_blank">The Telegraph.</a> Chief executive officer Peter Fankhauser took home $15.23 million since he took on the job in 2014, whereas chief financial officers Michael Healy and Bill Scott earned a combined $12.84 million since 2014. The UK’s opposition Labour Party finance spokesman John McDonnell has said that the executives should repay their bonuses. “I think they need to really examine their own consciences about how they’ve brought this about and how they themselves have exploited the situation,” he said on BBC radio. The company was one of the world’s oldest and largest travel operators and fell into compulsory liquidation after it was unable to secure the $368 million demanded by lenders. Mr McDonnell also attacked the British Government for not doing more to help out the company. “I’m worried for the holiday-makers. I really feel for them. But also 13,000 people will lose their jobs over this and I just think the government should have been willing to do more intervene, stabilise the situation, then allow a longer term plan to develop,” he said. “This company once was in public ownership and as a result of privatisation it’s had real problems over the years I think because of issues around management and the lack of long-term planning.” However, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said it would be a “moral hazard” to save the company. The liquidation has left more than 21,000 people out of work and stranded more than 600,000 holiday goers overseas. In Tunisia, things took a turn for the worse as tourists were locked inside a hotel by security guards. “Do not come to Les Orangers hotel (in) Hamamet, Tunisia, as we’re all being held hostage because Thomas Cook haven’t paid for our stays!” she said. “Everyone’s being charged nearly 3000 pounds to leave. The security gates are locked and no-one can leave nor can any coaches get in to take people out.” A spokesman for Thomas Cook later said the issue had been resolved and guests allowed to leave. "We are aware that a small number of customers were asked to pay for their hotel room before leaving Les Orangers in Tunisia … this has now been resolved and customers flew home as planned. We continue to support our customers in all our resorts," they said.

Travel Tips

Mum’s heartbreaking letter to daughter who took her own life

Linda Trevan from Melbourne tragically lost her 15-year-old daughter Cassidy to suicide in 2015. Cassidy faced a life of bullying and was later gang raped. Now three years later, Linda shares her emotional letter dedicated to her daughter. This letter may contain triggering or disturbing material. If you would like to support Linda and her fight against bullying, visit her <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.facebook.com/StopBullyingForCassidyTrevan" target="_blank">Facebook</a> page. My darling Cassidy, it’s three years tonight. Three years since that knock on the door that was to end my world. I ran to the front door assuming it was you arriving home from the beach where your dad had taken you for two days to try to cheer you up. But when I opened the door it was two police officers. I was confused. They asked to come in, and then they asked me to sit down. I refused. My first thought was that you’d been in a car accident and that your dad was hurt. “Just tell me what’s happened,” I said. “We are sorry to inform you that your daughter took her own life this afternoon.” I just remember backing away from them with my hands over my face wailing, “no, no, no, no, nooooo”. They helped me to a chair as my whole body started to give way at the same time as my world fell apart. It was 8.30pm, but they told me you’d been pronounced dead at 6.10pm, although you had actually died around 4.30pm, almost 100km away from me. They said your lifeless little body would already be with the coroner. How could you be dead? How could you have been dead for four hours without me feeling it? How could I not have been with you in your final moments? <iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FStopBullyingForCassidyTrevan%2Fposts%2F235279363598105&width=500" width="500" height="805" style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allow="encrypted-media"></iframe> In some ways it feels like only yesterday… In other ways it seems like forever ago. But it always just feels like the emptiest, deepest, most unimaginable pain. To know that I’ll never see you again, never hug you again, never laugh with you again, never rub your little back to help soothe you to sleep again. The day you died I feel like I died too, and that I’ve barely existed since then. I don’t know if I’ll ever really be able to create a meaningful life for myself without you. I miss you so so very much, every second of every day, and you still dominate the bulk of my daily thoughts. Last night I lit a 55-hour candle so you can find your way home to me. Come and visit me in my dreams, please, I need to see you, to have just one more joyous moment with you. I don’t think I’ve made it to the acceptance stage of grief yet. How can I ever accept that my precious only baby was so betrayed, so wronged, so let down by society and every professional who failed to help and protect you, both before and after what happened to you? How can I ever accept that you were so broken, so so very sad that you had to take your own life to stop your pain? The knowledge of how badly you had to suffer just kills me and always will. I’m so so sorry that I couldn’t fix you and make it all better, like a mum should be able to, so that we could still be together today and forever. My grief is still so incredibly overwhelming. But I have to try to stay strong so that I can keep your name and your memories alive and continue spreading bullying awareness to try to save other lives. Love and proudness my precious darling, my forever 15, my teen-angel, you were my dream come true my beautiful baby. I love you and miss you so very much, with every little fragment of my broken heart. You were the love of my life, an absolute joy, and It was an honour and a privilege to be your mum. I just keep having to tell myself that you are no longer in pain and are now at peace. fly, fly, my infinite child. I wish you could see how much love and support your story has received from all around the world. You will live on in my heart, and in the hearts of thousands all around the world, forever. xxx #bullyingkilledmychildcassidytrevan Cassidy was only 13 years old when she was gang raped by a group of students. After the incident occurred, her family had decided to relocate, but despite moving away, the young teenager faced bullying online up until the day she passed away, 22 months later. Linda is now wanting to make sure no other parent goes through what she has gone through and is hoping that this letter will push children to speak to someone they trust if they are being bullied. If you are troubled by this article, experiencing a personal crisis or thinking about suicide, you can call the Depression Helpline at 0800 111 757 or visit <a href="http://depression.org.nz/">depression.org.nz</a>.

Mind

The major step Prince Charles and Camilla took to becoming King and Queen

This week, Prince Charles and Camilla took a major step towards the Duke of Cornwall’s ascension to the throne during the Order of the Garter Service. As Her Royal Highness honoured those who have been knighted in recognition of their public service, Charles and Camilla played an upgraded role in the ceremony. The 700-year-old ceremony is the most senior Order of Chivalry in Britain and was the perfect ceremony to give the heir to the throne a significant role. In past years, Charles and Camilla would follow behind the Queen in their own carriage during the procession between Windsor Castle and St George’s Chapel. <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: 32.77777777777778% 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/BkLIFWyAxJv/" target="_blank">A post shared by Clarence House (@clarencehouse)</a> on Jun 18, 2018 at 10:08am PDT </div> </blockquote> This year, the pair were upgraded to the monarch’s carriage and filled Prince Philip’s spot since the 97-year-old retired from his royal duties in August last year. Camilla sat next to the Queen during the procession while Charles took the opposite seat. The ceremony was also attended by senior members of the royal family, along with the Garter Knights who are personally picked by the Queen, without consulting ministers. <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/BkLB34uHsU8/" target="_blank">A post shared by The Royal Family (@theroyalfamily)</a> on Jun 18, 2018 at 9:14am PDT </div> </blockquote> Yesterday, Dame Mary Fagan and the Viscount Brookeborough became members of the exclusive group following the deaths of Sir Ninian Stephen and Sir William Gladstone. The group only has 24 members and is led by the monarch and the heir to the throne, who automatically fill the top spots. Those who are asked to become members of the most senior order of knighthood in the UK are chosen because they have held public office, contributed to national life or served the sovereign personally. Other members include former prime minister Sir John Major and Admiral Lord Boyce, a former head of the UK’s armed forces.

News

10 people who took laziness to the next level

We all have our lazy moments from time to time where we simply can’t muster up the motivation to do anything other than lay in bed, sit on the couch or browse the web. That’s normal, after all. But then there are those people who take laziness to a whole other level. Hey, at least they make the rest of us look good! Scroll through the gallery above to see 10 spectacular displays of extreme laziness and tell us in the comments, what do you like to do on a lazy day?

Mind

Shocking reaction to man who took his wife's surname

Last month, newlywed Grant Phillips, née Davis, <a href="https://honey.nine.com.au/2017/12/19/14/37/why-i-took-my-wife-surname" target="_blank">wrote an article for 9Honey</a> explaining why he decided to take his wife’s surname. There were a number of reasons, from not having a strong connection to the family with whom he shared his birth surname to wanting to keep his wife’s surname going, as it would have died with her as one of two girls, with no cousins to carry on the name. “I know a lot of people out there will see it as somewhat emasculating, like I’m somehow less of a man by taking my wife’s name,” Grant wrote. “I have had people act shocked and confused when I’ve told them that I’m taking her name – one male colleague even challenged my decision saying it’s "not what blokes do". “To me, this is more a reflection of society's views on masculinity. “The tradition of a woman taking a man’s name was built along the premise that women become property of their husbands after their nuptials. There’s no legal or religious reason, it’s all about male dominance. “Don’t get me wrong, I have no issue with woman who choose to take their husband’s name. My sister and my mother did it, not to mention 80 per cent of Australian women. “But I do have an issue with the fact that when the situation is reversed, the husband’s masculinity is thrown into question.” For Grant, the act was a mark of love, respect and commitment, but little did he know, his unusual decision would lead to an influx of death threats. <img width="498" height="370" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7267065/untitled-2_498x370.jpg" alt="Untitled -2 (1)" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"/> “Just one of the messages I’ve received because I took my wife’s surname,” Grant captioned this horrible message he received on Facebook. One online commenter even told Grant to “go kill yourself”, while another said they “hope your wife can’t have kids, that’ll be God’s way of punishing you.” However, others have thrown their support behind the couple, with one person saying, “This makes you more of a man than most... honouring your wife this way indicates what a true bloke you are! I reckon you’ve started a trend.” Another wrote, “Wanted to say respect to you for doing what you are doing for your lovely wife. Your decision does not affect the lives of others, and their ignorance goes to show what a dark hole they're living in.” Tell us in the comments below, do you think it should be more acceptable for men to take their wife’s surname? Image credit: Grant Phillips/Instagram.

Technology

7 times Camilla took fashion cues from the Queen

She’s now at the height of her popularity, with a British survey earlier this week showing 40 per cent of people want Camilla Parker Bowles to be Queen when Prince Charles ascends to the throne. It’s an astonishing rise from just seven per cent when she first wed Charles. And it seems that the Duchess of Cornwall is more than ready if her style is anything to go by. It looks just like the Queen’s! We’ve started to notice a fair few times Camilla may be taking her style choices from the ever-impeccably dressed Queen Elizabeth. Scroll through the gallery above to see our favourite matching looks of the pair.

Beauty & Style

Just how long it took musicians to get their first real hit

Although musicians will often be described as an “overnight success”, the reality is that most spend many years working hard and going completely unnoticed by mainstream music lovers. Using Rolling Stone’s 100 Greatest Artists list, website <a href="http://www.gocompare.com/life-insurance/life-and-times-of-the-greatest-artists/" target="_blank">GoCompare.com</a> has put together a fascinating <a href="http://mentalfloss.com/article/501642/how-long-it-took-famous-musicians-get-their-first-hit" target="_blank">list of timelines</a> charting when some of the most recognisable acts in the world formed and broke up, with indicators of their first Top 10 single. The timelines may surprise you. We’ve chosen some of our favourite artists to highlight below. The Beach Boys Year formed: 1961 The hit: “Surfin’ USA” The year: 1963 Years: 2 The Beatles Year formed: 1960 The hit: “Love Me Do” The year: 1962 Years: 2 The Doors Year formed: 1965 The hit: “Light My Fire” The year: 1967 Years: 2 The Police Year formed: 1977 The hit: “Cant’s Stand Losing You” The year: 1979 Years: 2 Elvis Presley Year career began: 1953 The hit: “Heartbreak Hotel” The year: 1956 Years: 3 Eric Clapton Year career began: 1962 The hit: “For Your Love” The year: 1965 Years: 3 Jimi Hendrix Year formed: 1963 The hit: “Hey Joe” The year: 1966 Years: 3 Carlos Santana Year career began: 1965 The hit: “Evil Ways” The year: 1969 Years: 4 Marvin Gaye Year career began: 1959 The hit: “Pride and Joy” The year: 1963 Years: 4 Madonna Year career began: 1979 The hit: “Holiday” The year: 1983 Years: 4 David Bowie Year career began: 1962 The hit: “The laughing Gnome” The year: 1967 Years: 5 Bob Dylan Year career began: 1959 The hit: “The Times They Are A-Changin’” The year: 1965 Years: 6 Prince Year formed: 1976 The hit: “1999” The year: 1982 Years: 6 Roy Orbison Year career began: 1953 The hit: “Only The Lonely” The year: 1960 Years: 7 Tina Turner Year career began: 1958 The hit: “River Deep – Mountain High” The year: 1966 Years: 8 Elton John Year career began: 1963 The hit: “Your Song” The year: 1971 Years: 8 Simon and Garfunkel Year formed: 1957 The hit: “The Sound of Silence” The year: 1965 Years: 8 Janis Joplin Year career began: 1962 The hit: “Me and Bobby McGee” The year: 1971 (posthumous) Years: 9 Joni Mitchell Year career began: 1964 The hit: “Help Me” The year: 1974 Years: 10 James Brown Year career began: 1953 The hit: “Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag” The year: 1965 Years: 12 Johnny Cash Year career began: 1954 The hit: “A Boy Named Sue” The year: 1969 Years: 15 Bruce Springsteen Year career began: 1964 The hit: “Hungry Heart” The year: 1980 Years: 16 AC/DC Year formed: 1973 The hit: “Highway To Hell” The year: 2013 Years: 40 Did you know that it took AC/DC 40 years to get their first Top 10 single? Keep that one up your sleeve for the next trivia night.

Music

15 kids who took instructions a bit too literally

Kids can be awfully cheeky when they want to, and while occasionally it gets them into trouble, most of the time it simply makes us giggle. Whether it’s creatively completing their homework or finding silly ways to follow their parents’ orders, these kids sure know how to take instructions seriously. <ol> <li>“Not exactly what I had in mind when I told my son it was too nice out to play games inside.”</li> <li>“Took my son to a modern art museum and told him that he needs to really think about the art and what they are trying to say. I am not sure, but I think I have a smartass on my hands.”</li> <li>“My friend's daughter taking the instructions literally.”</li> <li>“This isn't exactly what we meant when we told him that he could look up puppy training tips on YouTube.”</li> <li>“We told our three-year-old that new year’s is special because you get to toast to a new year. A few hours later she said, ‘are we gonna make toast now?!’ and thus a new year’s day tradition was born.”</li> <li>“My kid said I gave her too many grapes. I said just eat half of them.”</li> <li>“Toddler was asked to feed the cat.”</li> <li>“Bring a fish to school day.”</li> <li>“One of them finally cracked the code.”</li> <li>“When your sister uses deodorant for the first time and gets the ruler out because ‘it's got to be 15cm away’.”</li> </ol> Did your kids or grandkids ever take your instructions a little too literally? Share your stories with us in the comments below. Related links: <a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/lifestyle/family-pets/2017/02/children-get-intelligence-genes-from-their-mothers/">Children get intelligence genes from their mothers</a> <a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/lifestyle/family-pets/2017/01/photos-show-what-kids-do-when-left-alone/">15 hilarious photos show what kids do when left alone</a> <a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/lifestyle/family-pets/2017/01/signs-your-grandchild-is-being-bullied/">4 signs your grandchild is being bullied</a>

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Shocking reaction to man who took his wife's surname

7 times Camilla took fashion cues from the Queen

Just how long it took musicians to get their first real hit

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