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"Matthew would enjoy the humour of it": Ironic detail spotted in Friends tribute

<p>While many fans of the long-running sitcom Friends are in mourning over the <a href="https://www.oversixty.com.au/health/caring/you-were-loved-tributes-flow-over-tragic-passing-of-matthew-perry" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sudden death of Matthew Perry</a>, others have delighted in an ironic detail surrounding the Friends apartment in New York. </p> <p>Since the announcement of Perry's death on Sunday, thousands of fans of the show has flocked to the apartment building in New York City's West Village, where the external shots of the gang's apartment was filmed, to pay their respects. </p> <p>While the sitcom, which ran for ten years from 1994, was actually filmed in Los Angeles, the Bedford Street address was used for the external shots of the New York-based show, with the humble apartment being home to each of the cast members during the show. </p> <p>Fans of the show have left notes, flowers, Central Perk memorabilia, and other sentimental items to pay tribute to the late actor. </p> <p>However, one eagle-eyed fan spotted a quirky detail hovering around the building, as Perry's death coincided with Halloween. </p> <p><iframe style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FKidspotAustralia%2Fposts%2Fpfbid02xSVyrpRthTeLeBNqtvHKWUB36us5bVB5vKCW1R9DYgF66kBWqnsSYarY2kDFfCT3l&show_text=true&width=500" width="500" height="581" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p> <p>Part of the building's Halloween decorations included a large ghost hovering near the iconic apartment, with many quick to point out the hilarious irony of the figure floating above the makeshift memorial. </p> <p>“That Halloween ghost is kinda fitting for the photo/mood and I think Matthew would enjoy the humour of it,” fan Holly astutely pointed out, sharing photos of the ghost on Facebook. </p> <p>The ironic decorations emerged shortly after Perry's Friends co-stars have <a href="https://oversixty.com.au/health/caring/so-utterly-devastated-friends-cast-break-silence" target="_blank" rel="noopener">broken their silence</a> over his sudden death in a group statement to People magazine. </p> <p>Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer said on Tuesday, "We are all so utterly devastated by the loss of Matthew. We were more than just cast mates. We are a family."</p> <p>"There is so much to say, but right now we're going to take a moment to grieve and process this unfathomable loss."</p> <p><em>Image credits: Facebook / Kidspot</em></p> <div id="fuse-injected-22953829264-1" class="fuse-slot-dynamic publift-video-ad" style="box-sizing: border-box; padding-top: 24px; padding-bottom: 24px; display: flex; justify-content: center;" data-fuse="22953829264" data-fuse-injected-at="1698722632652" data-fuse-code="fuse-slot-22953829264-1" data-fuse-zone-instance="zone-instance-22953829264-1" data-fuse-slot="fuse-slot-22953829264-1" data-fuse-processed-at="1440"> <div id="bb-iawr-over60au-1692594483990158" class="bb_iawr" style="box-sizing: border-box; position: relative; overflow: hidden; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; width: 730px; height: 0px; opacity: 0.01;"> <div id="bb-wr-over60au-1692594483990158" class="bb-media bb_wrapper bb-muted bb-phase-init bb-mode-video bb-state-loading" style="box-sizing: content-box; cursor: auto; 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display: inline-flex; flex-direction: column; row-gap: 0.3em; column-gap: 0.3em;" role="contentinfo"> <h1 class="title svelte-10zo7b2" style="text-shadow: 0px calc(var(--font-size) / 12.5) 0px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.25); margin: 0px; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap; font-size: 1.1em;">Rupert Friend Spills Secrets of 'Obi-Wan Kenobi' at Star Wars Celebrations</h1> <div class="share-button bar-button svelte-10zo7b2" style="text-shadow: 0px calc(var(--font-size) / 12.5) 0px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.25); width: var(--bar-button-size); height: var(--bar-button-size); margin-top: calc(-0.25 * var(--bar-button-size));"> <div class="button-element svelte-1eoizxx no-toggle-transform no-hover-transform" style="text-shadow: 0px calc(var(--font-size) / 12.5) 0px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.25); box-sizing: border-box; width: 38px; height: 38px; position: relative; cursor: pointer; pointer-events: initial; border-radius: var(--border-radius); --foreground-color: #ffffff; --border-radius: 50%; --icon-height: 16px; 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min-height: 12px; height: var(--icon-height); line-height: var(--icon-height); min-width: var(--icon-height); display: inline-flex; justify-content: center;"> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="start-time svelte-fllze1" style="text-shadow: 0px calc(var(--font-size) / 12.5) 0px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.25); top: calc(8px + var(--size-big-button)); position: absolute; left: 27px; transform: translate(-50%); background-color: var(--bg-color-pane); padding: 8px 16px; border-radius: 32px; font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: var(--margin-size); margin-left: 2px;" data-cy="start-screen-duration">01:31</div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="center-area svelte-10zo7b2" style="text-shadow: 0px calc(var(--font-size) / 12.5) 0px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.25); flex-grow: 1;"> </div> </div> <div class="chrome-bottom-shadow svelte-10zo7b2" style="text-shadow: 0px calc(var(--font-size) / 12.5) 0px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.25); transition: opacity 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; opacity: 0; position: absolute; inset: 0px;"> </div> </div> <div class="bb-layer bb-context-layer" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; position: absolute; top: 0px; left: 0px; width: 730px; height: 411px; overflow: hidden; border-radius: 10px; pointer-events: none !important;"> <p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1rem;">"For now, our thoughts and our love are with Matty's family, his friends, and everyone who loved him around the world."</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div>

Caring

From fairytale to gothic ghost story: how 40 years of biopics showed Princess Diana on screen

<p>Since the earliest Princess Diana biopics appeared soon after the royal wedding in 1981, there have been repeated attempts to bring to the screen the story of Diana’s journey from blue-blooded ingenue through to tragic princess trapped within – and then expelled from – the royal system.</p> <p>A long string of actresses, with replicas of the outfits she wore and a blond wig (sometimes precariously) in place, have walked through episodic storylines, charting the “greatest hits” of what is known of Diana’s royal life.</p> <p>Biopics about the princess tend to be shaped according to the dominant mythic narratives in circulation in any given phase of Diana’s life. The first biopics were stories of fairytales and romance. From the 1990s, the marriage of Charles and Diana took on the shape of soap opera and melodrama.</p> <p>Now, with the Crown (2016–) and Spencer (2021), Diana has become a doomed gothic heroine. She is a woman suffocated by a royal system that cannot, will not, acknowledge her special place in the royal pantheon.</p> <p><iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/WllZh9aekDg?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p> <h2>Fairytales and soap operas</h2> <p>The first Dianas appeared on American television networks within months of the July 1981 wedding of Charles and Diana.</p> <p>Both Charles and Diana: A Royal Love Story (starring Caroline Bliss) and The Royal Romance of Charles and Diana (starring Catherine Oxenberg) invested wholesale in a fairytale lens.</p> <p>They told of the young and virginal beauty who had captured the attention of the dashing prince, whisked off to a life of happily ever after.</p> <p><iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/54QRwogBUQI?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p> <p>The Diana biopics fell quiet for the first years of the marriage (fairytales don’t tend to interest themselves in pregnancies and apparent marital harmony), and then reemerged after the publication of Andrew Morton’s exposé, Diana: Her True Story (1992).</p> <p>Morton’s biography was written from taped interviews with the princess and inspired the next generation of Diana biopics, ones that I call the “post-Morton” biopics, which borrow from Diana’s own scripting of her life.</p> <p><iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/R7OnHYcTqLk?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p> <p>A series of actors were enlisted to play Diana in these made-for-television productions.</p> <p>Oxenberg turns up again in Charles and Diana: Unhappily Ever After (1992). In Diana: Her True Story (1993), Serena Scott-Thomas (who, incidentally, turns up in the 2011 television biopic William and Kate as Catherine Middleton’s mother Carole) does her best with a terrible script and series of wigs.</p> <p><iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/tUFUuGpHHPg?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p> <p>Others gave it their best shot. We had Julie Cox in Princess in Love (1996), Amy Seacombe in Diana: A Tribute to the People’s Princess (1998), Genevieve O'Reilly in Diana: Last Days of a Princess (2007) and, briefly, Michelle Duncan in Charles and Camilla: Whatever Love Means (2005).</p> <p><iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/eNTR0nZZXn4?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p> <p>But even large budget films (such as 2013’s cinema-release Diana, directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel and starring Naomi Watts) had critics and audiences letting out <a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/diana_2013">a collective yawn</a>.</p> <p>In film after film we were offered yet another uninspired, soap opera-style representation of the princess’s life.</p> <p><iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ca2GGofxzX4?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p> <h2>A gothic tale</h2> <p>Critics’ voices were quelled somewhat with the appearance of Emma Corrin’s Diana in season four of The Crown.</p> <p>With Netflix’s high budget and quality production values, many — <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-crown-season-4-review-a-triumphant-portrait-of-the-1980s-with-a-perfectly-wide-eyed-diana-149633">including myself</a> — felt Peter Morgan’s deliberate combination of accuracy and imaginative interpretation of Diana’s royal life offered something approximating a closer rendition of the “real” princess than we’d been presented with before.</p> <p><iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Tedqw0gMuCI?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p> <p>And then we come to the most recent portrayal of Diana on screen, Pablo Larraín’s Spencer (2021), starring Kristen Stewart as Diana. What, royal biopic watchers wondered, could it possibly do to top The Crown’s Diana?</p> <p>Spencer’s statement in the film’s opening offers a clue: it promises to be a “fable from a true tragedy”.</p> <p>This is a film where genre imperatives and creative imaginings are placed at the forefront of its representation of the princess.</p> <p><iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/f-FBHQAGLnY?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p> <p>Taking its cue from the gothic themes and tropes Diana can be heard invoking on the Morton tapes, Spencer’s heroine is trapped in a frozen Sandringham setting, gasping for air to the point where her voice rarely lifts above a soft, almost suffocated, whisper.</p> <p>She tears at the pearls encircling her throat. She rips open the curtains sewn shut by staff. She self-harms with wire cutters. She runs like an animal hunted down manor house corridors and across frosty Norfolk fields.</p> <p>She is haunted by the ghost of Anne Boleyn, another royal wife rejected by her husband, prompting <a href="https://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/arts-and-culture/a38164090/princess-diana-spencer-horror-movie/">one reviewer to ask</a>: “is Spencer the ultimate horror movie?”</p> <p>Larraín and Stewart’s Diana has her precursor in the spectral, gothic Diana who appears in the 2017 future-history television film King Charles III, based on Mike Bartlett’s 2014 play. The anguished howl of this Diana (played by Katie Brayben) echoes throughout the palace in the same way Spencer’s Diana is framed as the royal who will haunt the Windsors for decades to come.</p> <p><iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/nyckuIRtag0?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p> <p>The lamentable Diana: The Musical (2021) on Netflix (a filmed version of the Broadway production starring Jeanna de Waal) – with its cliched storyline, two-dimensional characterisation, awkward costuming and early 1980s Andrew Lloyd Webber-style aesthetic – offers some evidence that, even in 2021, the creators of Diana stories haven’t altogether abandoned their investment in the Diana of 1981.</p> <p>But with Spencer, we have a Diana shaped by both the princess’s own version of her story, and the screen Dianas that came before her. Spencer suggests new directions and potential for the telling of royal lives.<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/173648/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /></p> <p><iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/UlebsnuEI1Y?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p> <p><span><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/giselle-bastin-391174">Giselle Bastin</a>, Associate Professor of English, <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/flinders-university-972">Flinders University</a></em></span></p> <p>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/from-fairytale-to-gothic-ghost-story-how-40-years-of-biopics-showed-princess-diana-on-screen-173648">original article</a>.</p> <p><span class="attribution"><span class="source"><em>Image: Pablo Larraín/Roadshow</em></span></span></p>

Movies

Why major airlines are flying empty planes

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In order to keep prized departure and landing times at major airports, some of Europe’s biggest airlines have been forced to fly empty planes. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Europe’s second largest air carrier, Germany-based Lufthansa, reported they had operated over 18,000 “ghost flights” through winter, despite the devastating pollution effects of these flights directly opposing Europe’s climate goals. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg shared news of the “ghost flights” on twitter, adding, “The EU surely is in a climate emergency mode…”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Due to severely decreased demand for air travel, Lufthansa called for more short-term flexibility on airport time slots. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Without this crisis-related flexibility, airlines are forced to fly with planes almost empty, just to secure their slots,” it said. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Still operating in a pre-pandemic mindset, the “use-it-or-lose-it” rule forces airlines to use at least 80% of their allocated slots to keep their flight times. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">These rules ensure major airlines are not able to hog valuable flying times, which boxes out smaller airlines from emerging.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">News of the ghost flights has prompted Stefan De Keersmaecker, a senior spokesperson of the European Commission, to refute these claims online. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Stefan cited data from Eurocontrol which reported the first weeks of traffic in 2022 was at 77% of pre-pandemic rates. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“In addition to the lower slot use rates, companies may also request a ‘justified non-use exception’ – to not use a slot – if the route cannot be operated because of sanitary measures, e.g. when new variants emerge during the pandemic,” he shared on Twitter.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“EU rules therefore do not oblige airlines to fly or to keep empty planes in the air. Deciding to operate routes or not is a commercial decision by the airline company and not a result of EU rules.”</span></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image credits: Getty Images</span></em></p>

Travel Tips

Not spooked by Halloween ghost stories? You may have aphantasia

<p>Halloween movies often feature kids sitting around a campfire sharing gory, spooky stories, trying to get someone to scream in fear.</p> <p>This weekend you might be doing the same – sharing a horror story with friends. You may find one friend doesn’t get scared, no matter how frightening a scene you try to paint in their mind.</p> <p>So why are some people more easily spooked by stories than others? We ran an experiment to find out.</p> <p><strong>Can you see it in your mind?</strong></p> <p>One reason some people are more easily spooked could relate to how well they can visualise the scary scene in their mind.</p> <p>When some people listen to a story they automatically conjure up the scene in their mind’s eye, while others have to focus really hard to create any sort of mental image.</p> <p>A small proportion cannot visualise images at all. No matter how hard they try, they do not see anything in their mind. This inability to visualise is known as aphantasia.</p> <p>Although we have known people vary in their ability to visualise <a rel="noopener" href="https://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Galton/imagery.htm" target="_blank">for many years</a>, the term aphantasia was not coined until <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0010945215001781?via%3Dihub" target="_blank">2015</a>.</p> <p>We don’t yet know exactly how many people have aphantasia. But <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0010945220301404?via%3Dihub" target="_blank">estimates vary</a> at 1–4% of the population.</p> <p><iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KuWSh4n5AiI?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe> <em><span class="caption">Do you have aphantasia?</span></em></p> <p><strong>How scared are you?</strong></p> <p>If the ability to visualise images and scenes in the mind plays a role in how we react to spooky stories, what does that mean for people with aphantasia? How do they react when reading scary stories?</p> <p>We <a rel="noopener" href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rspb.2021.0267" target="_blank">ran a study</a> to find out. We had people sit in the dark and read a number of short stories – not ghost stories, but ones with frightening, hypothetical scenarios.</p> <p>One example involved someone being chased by a shark, another being covered in spiders.</p> <p>As people read these stories, we recorded their fear levels by measuring how much the stories made them sweat.</p> <p>We placed small electrodes on their fingers and ran a tiny electric current from one electrode to the other.</p> <p>When you sweat this allows the electric current to flow from one electrode to the other easier, due to less resistance, and this results in <a rel="noopener" href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1094428116681073" target="_blank">increased skin conductance</a>.</p> <p>This measure can pick up even very small increases in sweat you wouldn’t otherwise notice.</p> <p><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/429220/original/file-20211028-13882-16y7l51.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/429220/original/file-20211028-13882-16y7l51.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="Scared man rowing away from sharks" /></a> <em><span class="caption">Imagine being chased by sharks. Some people can’t conjure up the image in their mind.</span> <span class="attribution"><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/escape-crisis-613248632" target="_blank" class="source">Shutterstock</a></span></em></p> <p>For most people who could conjure up images in their mind, their skin conductance increased when they read these stories. But people with aphantasia didn’t show a significant increase in their skin conductance levels when reading the same scenarios.</p> <p>There was no difference between the two groups when viewing scary pictures. This suggests aphantasic people’s lack of a reaction to these stories wasn’t due to a general dampening of emotional responses.</p> <p>Instead, we concluded the lack of a change in skin conductance in these people with aphantasia is specific to being unable to <em>visualise</em> these fear-inducing stories.</p> <p><strong>What’s going on in the brain?</strong></p> <p>Very little work has been done to measure neural activity in people with aphantasia to give us a firm idea of why they cannot visualise images.</p> <p>One <a rel="noopener" href="https://academic.oup.com/cercorcomms/article/2/2/tgab035/6265046" target="_blank">study</a> shows both the frontal and visual regions of the brain are linked to visualising images. And in people with aphantasia, the connection between these two areas is weaker.</p> <p>Another study found the pattern of activity in visual regions of the brain <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.jneurosci.org/content/37/5/1367.abstract" target="_blank">is correlated</a> with the vividness of the mental images.</p> <p>So any reduction in connectivity between the frontal and visual regions may result in less control over the visual regions. This might lead to the inability to visualise.</p> <p><strong>So what if you have aphantasia?</strong></p> <p>If you have aphantasia, it might just mean reading a <a rel="noopener" href="https://stephenking.com" target="_blank">Stephen King novel</a> is unlikely to ruffle your feathers.</p> <p>Theoretically, remembering fearful experiences might also be less scary. We did not test personal memories in our study, but we hope to look at these in the future.</p> <p>People with aphantasia report their personal memories (<a rel="noopener" href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.3758%2Fs13421-014-0402-5" target="_blank">autobiographical memories</a>) are <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-65705-7" target="_blank">less vivid</a> and <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0010945220301404?via%3Dihub" target="_blank">detailed</a> than people with visual imagery.</p> <p>People with aphantasia may also be less likely to develop disorders associated with fear memories, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).</p> <p>Another possibility is they still may develop PTSD but it presents <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-65705-7" target="_blank">in a different way</a> to people with visual imagery – without flashbacks. But more research is needed.</p> <p><em><a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/rebecca-keogh-301841" target="_blank">Rebecca Keogh</a>, Research Fellow, Department of Cognitive Science, <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/macquarie-university-1174" target="_blank">Macquarie University</a></em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com" target="_blank">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/not-spooked-by-halloween-ghost-stories-you-may-have-aphantasia-170712" target="_blank">original article</a>.</em></p> <p><em>Image: Shutterstock</em></p>

Mind

Now's your chance to own a ghost town in remote WA, deserted 70 years ago

<p><span>Urban explorers and the paranormal curious, listen up — you could soon the be proud owner on an entire abandoned town in remote Western Australia.</span></p> <p><span>The former township of Cossack, on the coast, is now up for sale after laying abandoned for 70 years.</span></p> <p><span>The ghost town, established in 1863, was once a thriving hub for the pearling industry, located on the Butchers Inlet.</span><span></span></p> <p><span>However over time, the population left to be absorbed into larger towns, eventually deserting the area completely.</span></p> <p><span>Today, Cossack's historic buildings all lay abandoned, trapped in an eerie timewarp.</span></p> <p><span>Tourists pass through, using the nearby hiking trails and paying a visit to the beautiful beaches — the town is surrounded by a coastal reserve.</span></p> <p><span>As well as 12 historic buildings and nearby Jarman Island, the town boasts archaeological sites dating back to the 1870s, some of which contain evidence of the impact of European settlement on the Aboriginal communities.</span></p> <p><span>The WA Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage are seeking buyers with proposals that will bring social and economic benefits to the region, so the idyllically-located town may just be a future tourism hotspot.</span><span>While no price tag has been assigned to the town, proposals that prioritise innovative low-impact tourism ventures will be top of the list, with things like eco accommodations, camping, dining venues, museums and galleries that will help support the regeneration of the town among the governement's criteria.</span></p> <p><span>Those keen to place a bid can do so before November 20, at 2pm, with proposals and registrations of interest to go to LJ Hooker Commercial Perth.</span></p> <div class="styles__Wrapper-sc-2o34ro-0 cmwkBV"> <div class="styles__Column-sc-2o34ro-3 jJDKrX"> <p class="p1"><em>Written by Katherine Scott. This article first appeared on <a href="https://travel.nine.com.au/latest/a-wa-ghost-town-deserted-70-years-ago-is-now-on-sale/44e8a83b-18fc-4c23-b84b-cfe9cd84b150">Honey</a>.</em></p> </div> </div>

Domestic Travel

Why you might be falling for a ‘ghost’ on dating apps

<p>Consider the moments you have fallen in love.</p> <p>If you unpick the threads, you will quickly find much of the falling <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/is-love-real-or-a-project_b_8398808">occurred in the mind</a>. Many artefacts that go towards creating intimacy are imagined. We can’t fully understand or know someone else, but we can construct a persona around them and a shared view of the future.</p> <p>Yes, there were likely tangible and physical components that went towards constructing the intimacy. You would have seen that person, had a discussion with them, a date (or several dates even), but realistically a lot of it happened in your mind.</p> <p>Love requires imagination: <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?hl=en&lr=&id=3D9FE-UfYxEC&oi=fnd&pg=PA109&dq=lauren+berlant+intimate+publics&ots=1g_TnzoJGF&sig=XsCBOmbhCgpe2Atmj9UtlEIiW_I#v=onepage&q=lauren%20berlant%20intimate%20publics&f=false">a shared vision, narrative or trajectory</a>.</p> <p>In our connected world, this imagination is fostered from the very start of the interaction. It happens from the moment we pick up our phones, tap on an app and consider swiping right. And we’re doing <em>a lot</em> of swiping: <a href="https://time.com/4837/tinder-meet-the-guys-who-turned-dating-into-an-addiction/">5 million matches</a> a day on Tinder alone. Dating apps and dating have become <a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/special-reports/smart-living/appy-ever-after-true-love-is-just-a-swipe-away-1.3986971">virtually synonymous</a>.</p> <p>It would be easy to chalk up the success of the dating app <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1461444818804773">to functionality, mobility and ease</a>, but what about its reawakening of the imagination?</p> <p><strong>Dreamspaces</strong></p> <p>Dating apps provide users with the ability to dream, to fantasise, to construct a person and an imagined story based on limited information. We open the app with a series of beliefs about who might make for our perfect match. Athletic, committed, creative, respectful, passionate, educated, age-appropriate (or inappropriate) … and then we interpret.</p> <p>Consider what you are supplied with: a few profile pictures and a brief description. Information is limited; gaps need to be filled.</p> <p>A photo taken with an adorable chocolate Labrador. Is he an animal lover – and therefore dependable? Holding a cocktail in a party dress with a friend. Does she enjoy her social life – and so is she fun to be around? On the beach: they must love the outdoors.</p> <p>From there, we springboard into interpreting other prompts and creating a narrative. You’re imaging an afternoon spent at the dog park (with the chocolate lab and your cavoodle – they would be the best of friends); an evening at the latest bar sipping the newest drink; a swimsuit, board shorts and a towel haphazardly flung over a balcony in the memory of a day spent at the beach.</p> <p>And while you are imagining your potential match, they are imagining you, too.</p> <p>Swipe right, and start a DM chat, and our intrepid interpretation of the other person and potential intimacy continues. The ghost of an imagined relationship has begun to haunt us.</p> <p><strong>Go on, ghost me</strong></p> <p>“Hauntology” was coined by philosopher <a href="https://libcom.org/files/Derrida%20-%20Specters%20of%20Marx%20-%20The%20State%20of%20the%20Debt,%20the%20Work%20of%20Mourning%20and%20the%20New%20International.pdf">Jacques Derrida</a> to refer to the return or persistence of elements from the past, as in the manner of a ghost.</p> <p>Dating apps allow the user to mobilise hauntological recollections from a previous relationship, a movie, a novel, or an idea.</p> <p>The virtual digital space is the perfect location for such hauntologies. You might think there is another person on the other side of the app, but we can also consider them to be a ghost.</p> <p>It’s easy to understand why dating apps are so popular. Their mobility makes them easy to use; users are in control of their selection of potential matches.</p> <p>Tinder founders Sean Rad and Justin Mateen say the design takes “<a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1440783316662718?journalCode=josb">the stress out of dating</a>”, and the game-like quality of the app creates <a href="https://time.com/4837/tinder-meet-the-guys-who-turned-dating-into-an-addiction/">less emotional investment</a>.</p> <p>But the imagining constitutes a significant emotional investment. Studies have shown imagined occurrences have similar, if not the same, impact <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/12/181210144943.htm">as reality</a>.</p> <p>Despite the lack of a face-to-face interaction you might find yourself intensely linked to your ghost. But will your ghost match the actual person when you meet them face-to-face for the first time? Will the two converge, or will there be an unbearable space between?</p> <p>Awareness is half the battle. When you’re next flicking through potential matches on a dating app, be conscious of how far you’re taking your digital imaginings.</p> <p>You can aim to keep them in check, or you can consciously let them spiral – in the knowledge of the notion you might be falling for a ghost.</p> <p></p> <p><span><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/lisa-portolan-908906"><em>Lisa Portolan</em></a><em>, PhD student, Institute for Culture and Society, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/western-sydney-university-1092">Western Sydney University</a></em></span></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/looking-for-love-on-a-dating-app-you-might-be-falling-for-a-ghost-128626">original article</a>.</em></p>

Relationships

Why is it so tough for some to exorcise the ghosts of their romantic pasts?

<p>A friend once grumbled that, given the choice, she’d rather see her ex miserable than herself happy.</p> <p>Few things in life are as traumatic as the end of a long-term, romantic relationship. Nonetheless, many people are able to eventually recover and move on relatively unscathed.</p> <p>Others, like my friend, aren’t so lucky. Even years later, they remain mired in the pain of the experience. Any reminder of their former partner – whether it’s a casual mention in conversation or a Facebook photo – can elicit profound feelings of sadness, anger and resentment.</p> <p>Why is it that some people continue to be haunted by the ghosts of their romantic pasts, struggling to let go of the pain of rejection?</p> <p>In <a href="http://psp.sagepub.com/content/42/1/54.short">a research</a>, my colleague Carol Dweck and I found that rejection actually makes some people redefine themselves – and their future romantic prospects.</p> <p>In one study, we asked people to write about any lessons they’d taken away from a past romantic rejection. Analyzing their responses, we realized that a number of respondents thought the rejection unmasked a basic negative truth about themselves – one that would also sabotage their future relationships. Some said they’d realized that they were too “clingy.” Other thought they’d been “too sensitive” or “bad at communicating.”</p> <p><a href="http://psp.sagepub.com/content/42/1/54.short">Additional studies</a> explored the consequences of believing that rejection had revealed a fundamental flaw. By linking rejection to some aspect of their core identity, people found it more difficult to move on from the experience. Some said they “put up walls” and became warier about new relationships. Others were afraid to disclose the rejection to a new partner, fearing that this person would change their opinion of them, thinking they had “baggage.” (This might explain why some people hide past rejections, treating them like a scar or stigma.)</p> <p>We then wondered: what makes someone more likely to link a romantic rejection to some aspect of “who they really are”? After all, other respondents wrote that rejection was merely a part of life, that it was an important part of growing up and actually caused them to become better people.</p> <p>It turns out that your beliefs about personality can play a big role in how you’ll respond to romantic rejection.</p> <p><a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1207/s15327965pli0604_1">Past research</a> has found that people hold divergent views about their personal characteristics, whether it’s their intelligence or shyness. Some people have a “fixed mindset,” believing that these qualities are unchangeable. In contrast, those who have a “growth mindset” believe that their personality is something that can evolve and develop throughout their lives.</p> <p>These basic beliefs shape how people respond to failure. For example, when people believe that intelligence is fixed, they’ll feel worse about themselves – and are less likely to persist – after experiencing a setback.</p> <p>We thought that beliefs about personality might determine whether people see rejection as a piece of evidence about who they really are – as a sign of whether they are a flawed and undesirable person.</p> <p>In one study, we divided people into two groups: those who think personality is fixed, and those who think personality is malleable. <a href="https://osf.io/h6tm5/">Participants then read one of two stories</a>. In one, we asked them to imagine being left, out of the blue, by a long-term partner. In the other, we asked them to imagine meeting someone at a party, feeling a spark and then later overhearing that person telling a friend that they would never be romantically interested in her or him.</p> <p>We might expect that only a severe rejection from a serious relationship would have the power to make people question who they are. Instead, a pattern emerged. For people with a fixed view of personality, we found that even a rejection from a relative stranger could prompt them to wonder what this rejection unveiled about their core self. These people might worry that there was something so obviously undesirable about them that a person would reject them outright – without even getting to know them.</p> <p>So what can we do to prevent people from linking rejection to the self in this negative way? One promising piece of evidence shows that changing someone’s beliefs about personality can shift his or her reaction to rejections.</p> <p>In a final study, <a href="https://osf.io/yt49a/">we created articles</a> that described personality as something that can evolve throughout the course of a lifetime, rather than as something that’s predetermined. When we asked people with a fixed view of personality to read these articles, they became less likely to interpret rejections as an indication of a permanent, fatal deficiency.</p> <p>By encouraging the belief that personality can change and develop over time, we may be able to help people exorcise the ghosts of their romantic pasts – and move on to satisfying relationships in the future.<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/53028/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/lauren-howe-219377">Lauren Howe</a>, Ph.D. Candidate in Psychology, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/stanford-university-890">Stanford University</a></em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-is-it-so-tough-for-some-to-exorcise-the-ghosts-of-their-romantic-pasts-53028">original article</a>.</em></p>

Relationships

Fright for sore eyes: Can you spot the ghost among the ghouls?

<p>Halloween is approaching fast – so why not try testing your sight with this Halloween-themed brain teaser?</p> <p>Created by<span> <a href="https://aira-dot-yamm-track.appspot.com/Redirect?ukey=13s5Wtz7jilpLxclOdEVs6gNYdj5JJM1cETq1d0aS0JU-0&key=YAMMID-98497662&link=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.libertygames.co.uk%2F">Liberty Games</a>, this puzzler hides a ghost among a collection of skulls, vampires, mummies and scary pumpkins. Take a look at the image and see for yourself:</span></p> <p><img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7832083/pactual.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/2f9dc6dbf683416b9e295f83324e9ff3" /></p> <p><span>Could you spot it?</span></p> <p><span>If you can’t, try again before scrolling below.</span></p> <p><span>Once you’re ready to confirm, find the answer on the picture below:</span></p> <p><img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7832082/pactual2.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/b67d545d19124af78f2f78c97b157de0" /></p>

Mind

The haunting history of Queen Victoria Building in NSW

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Queen Victoria Building, located in Sydney, is a Heritage-listed building as it is 121-years-old.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The building has experienced a lot of history, which QVB After Dark endeavours to share with you, according to </span><a href="https://www.news.com.au/travel/australian-holidays/nsw-act/sordid-tales-from-the-qvbs-creepy-after-dark-ghost-tours/news-story/f8dfef496a9de9f8167106bedda89ff3"><span style="font-weight: 400;">news.com.au</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This includes stories about a QVB’s “resident ghost” that inhabits the building, which is something that people have claimed to see pacing the floors and circling the central dome.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The ghost is rumoured to be a former QVB business owner who died from a violent robbery more than 100 years ago that never left the building.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">However, the murder and real-life story of Mei Quong Tart devastated the city.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">He came to Australia from China as a nine-year-old in 1859. When he was old enough, he started working out at the goldfields and worked as a government interpreter.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">After making his home in Ashfield, Tart worked in the tea and silk trade in Sydney and opened restaurants across the city.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">His most famous venue was the Elite Dining Hall and Tea Rooms in the QVB. As Tart was well-liked within the city, giving his employers fair wages and providing women a safe place during the time of suffrage, this made his murder all the more heartbreaking.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">As Tart was counting money at the end of the day, he was beaten in the head with an iron bar and robbed. Despite surviving, he would soon pass eleven months after the brutal attack.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Those who have seen Tart within the QVB say he’s a “friendly ghost” who often waves at people as they walk by. If you see him, you’re encouraged to wave back.</span></p>

Domestic Travel

Australia’s Chernobyl: Why tourists keep heading to this deadly Aussie town

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">As the region of Pilbara in Western Australia works hard to grow tourism to the area, which has rare flora and fauna as well as rich Indigenous culture, there is one place that the Western Australia government is trying to keep people away from.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The destination is so deadly that the name has been removed from maps and signs.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The former country town of Wittenoom lies abandoned as the decaying town is considered the most contaminated site in the Southern Hemisphere. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">There are more than 2,000 deaths linked to the town’s blue asbestos mining operations in the ‘60s.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Mining was formally shut down in 1966, but the asbestos fibres left behind have rendered the area permanently unsafe for human habitation according to experts who spoke to </span><a href="https://travel.nine.com.au/latest/australias-most-contaminated-town-wittenoon-abandoned/b7752071-b209-452a-bdfb-442a73b66c25"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Travel Nine.</span></a></p> <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/B0M1PHJI3mX/" 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="margin: 8px 0 0 0; padding: 0 4px;"><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/B0M1PHJI3mX/" target="_blank">Reports that tourists are visiting Wittenoom - an abandoned, Western Australian town once home to a large blue asbestos mine - are extremely concerning. The town and surrounding areas are still highly contaminated by asbestos - and pose a huge health risk to anyone who visits. The area is so contaminated that it has been dubbed 'Australia's #Chernobyl". It's not worth your health or life for a social media photo. Link in bio to read the story and please - stay away. ☠️☠️☠️ ... ... ... ... #asbestos #asbestosremoval #asbestostesting #asbestossafety #beasbestosaware #wittenoom #blueasbestos #mining #blueskymine #westernaustralia #abandonedtown</a></p> <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/asbestos_safety/" target="_blank"> Asbestos Safety</a> (@asbestos_safety) on Jul 21, 2019 at 6:24pm PDT</p> </div> </blockquote> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The area is so contaminated that it’s been dubbed “Australia’s Chernobyl”. Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Lands Ben Wyatt has described the fallout from the contamination as one of “the saddest chapters in WA history” and one the town would never be able to recover from.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"It is important to understand that when the Wittenoom mine closed there were 3 million tonnes of asbestos tailings left behind in the gorge and surrounding area," he told </span><a href="https://travel.nine.com.au/latest/australias-most-contaminated-town-wittenoon-abandoned/b7752071-b209-452a-bdfb-442a73b66c25"><span style="font-weight: 400;">9Honey</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"Exposure to a single fibre of these tailings could prove fatal. Therefore, as disappointing as it is, it is virtually impossible to clean the area to a level where it would then considered safe for human habitation."</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">However, the strict warnings haven’t stopped people from travelling there, despite the well-known and documented risks of asbestos. </span></p> <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/Byo_wwpnHiA/" 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="margin: 8px 0 0 0; padding: 0 4px;"><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/Byo_wwpnHiA/" target="_blank">Wittenoom gorge free camp with @zeke.holt.1 and @megcarmen. Pretty epic spot apart from all the asbestos! 😷</a></p> <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/emmet_f/" target="_blank"> E.</a> (@emmet_f) on Jun 12, 2019 at 11:52pm PDT</p> </div> </blockquote> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Wyatt has serious words and a simple message for those who want to visit Wittenoom.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"I have a simple message for anyone thinking of travelling to Wittenoom. Don't. These warnings signs are not there for decoration or to add your Instagram collection. They are serious warnings about serious health consequences.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"I can't stress enough that it is particularly foolish to travel to Wittenoom. There are plenty of gorges in WA which do not bring with them the threat of a fatal consequences."</span></p>

Domestic Travel

Brits hit out at tabloids for bizarre royal wedding claim

<p>They hounded her while she was alive, and it seems the UK media is still disrespecting Princess Diana after death.</p> <p>Yesterday, numerous British tabloids reported that the People’s Princess “will attend” Prince Harry’s wedding to Meghan Markle – as a ghost.</p> <p>The jaw-dropping claim was made by “psychic twins” Terry and Linda Jamison, who told the <a href="https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/691336/Princess-Diana-death-Meghan-Markle-Prince-Harry-Royal-wedding-news-psychic-twins" target="_blank"><em><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Daily Star</span></strong></em></a> they have been in contact with the late Diana, who allegedly told them, “I will most definitely be present for Harry and Meghan’s wedding.”</p> <p>“Diana”, who supposedly said she was also present for William and Kate’s wedding, said Harry and Meghan’s big day “will be beautiful, a small version of my own ceremony… and with a horse and carriage,” adding, “Mine was overwhelming, to say the least.”</p> <p>The “ghost” also claimed that she is “around [William and Harry] more than they realise”.</p> <p>Understandably, readers were outraged at the disrespectful reports, taking to Twitter to vent their frustration at the tabloids.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr">The only comfort I take from having to see this article in my feed, is knowing that the Mirror will soon be a ghost itself. <br /><br />Everything about it is utter trash that’s helping to tread on the drowning head of the industry it claims to serve. <br /><br />Deplorable.</p> — Gareth Clark - Jones (@GarethKJ) <a href="https://twitter.com/GarethKJ/status/978982271523926017?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 28, 2018</a></blockquote> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr">And she'd have gotten away with it if it wasn't for that pesky Mirror! <a href="https://t.co/DVrKpvjO5R">pic.twitter.com/DVrKpvjO5R</a></p> — T (@TonyTheBFG) <a href="https://twitter.com/TonyTheBFG/status/978567961928663040?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 27, 2018</a></blockquote> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr"><a href="https://t.co/IU7NDgM8UD">pic.twitter.com/IU7NDgM8UD</a></p> — Emma 🐼 (@Sturdygirl0803) <a href="https://twitter.com/Sturdygirl0803/status/978550095355568128?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 27, 2018</a></blockquote> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr">For goodness sake! Who writes this sh**? <a href="https://t.co/OoBzIyZhad">pic.twitter.com/OoBzIyZhad</a></p> — Sharon Reynolds (@babyrubyjb) <a href="https://twitter.com/babyrubyjb/status/978691742508769280?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 27, 2018</a></blockquote> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr">Hi <a href="https://twitter.com/MirrorCeleb?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MirrorCeleb</a>, have you asked <a href="https://twitter.com/dailyexpressuk?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@dailyexpressuk</a> on whether they are to run an 18-page special on what the ghost of Diana might be wearing and whether Kate has worn it before?</p> — Egbert Lancaster Noggins (@Lancaster32) <a href="https://twitter.com/Lancaster32/status/978677995039875074?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 27, 2018</a></blockquote> <p>The Jamison twins also claim to have predicted 9/11.</p> <p>Tell us in the comments below, what do you think of these outrageous claims?</p>

Mind

The story behind Australia’s most haunted locations

<p>Hollywood may be home to the modern horror film, but when it comes to actual haunted houses Australia certainly has its fair share of things that go bump in the night.</p> <p>These spine-tingling tales are sure to get you in the Halloween spirit, or at the very least – have you sleeping with one eye open tonight. </p> <p><strong>1. Monte Cristo Homestead; NSW</strong></p> <p><strong>The history:</strong> Murder, torture and suicide are all part of the macabre history of “Australia’s most haunted house”, The Monte Cristo Homestead. A caretaker was murdered in the home in 1961, a mentally disabled boy was kept in the homestead’s cottage for many years, a boy died falling down the stairs, a maid fell from a balcony and a stable boy died from injuries after a fire. Many of the ghosts who appear in the residence are believed to be spirits of these people who died there including former lady of the house Mrs Crawley.</p> <p><strong>The hauntings:</strong> With 10 distressed spirits to its name, it’s no wonder reports of invisible force fields, poltergeist action and screams have unnerved even the most hardened mediums. Guests often report seeing strange lights, feeling strange presences, and many who choose to stay overnight report seeing Mrs. Crawley herself.</p> <p><strong>2. Oakabella Homestead; W.A</strong></p> <p><strong>The history:</strong> Often said to be the most haunted house in Western Australia, this homestead is located between Geraldton and Northampton, Oakabella Homestead was established in 1851 by James Drummond on 44,000 acres (17806 ha) of land. Its history includes that of confrontations between local indigenous tribes and natives and the pioneers, a number of child deaths, including that of one child who fell while climbing through an open window breaking their neck, and in 1973, previous occupant George Jackson met an untimely death while sitting in his room cleaning his gun when it went off killing him.</p> <p><strong>The hauntings: </strong>There has been much reported paranormal activity at Oakabella, doors opening and closing on their own, the feeling of a “presence”, strange lights, smells and temperature drops. There are stories of curses, death, strange accidents, great sickness, affairs and a murder that make up the homestead history. Some believe this place is a spiritual portal – a place built on native sacred ground that is a “magnet” for spiritual energy. So much so, that the current caretaker dreamt of a similar homestead as a child and believes she was brought to the place by a spiritual pull. </p> <p><strong>3. Blundell’s Cottage; ACT</strong></p> <p><strong>The history:</strong> Built in 1860, Blundell’s Cottage existed even before the city of Canberra. It was originally inhabited by the Campbell family before the Blundell family moved in, in 1874 and stayed for 60 years, thus giving the cottage its permanent title. Tragically, in 1892, Flora Susanna Blundell, while wearing a white crinoline dress, burnt to death when the dress touched a hot iron, immediately engulfing herself in flames.</p> <p><strong>The hauntings:</strong> The cottage is said to be haunted by the ghost of Florrie Blundell who died at the age of 16 from illness after an accident ironing. She’s been seen several times standing in the gardens of the property and tour groups often complain that the house smells like burned flesh.</p> <p><strong>4. Franklin House; TAS</strong></p> <p><strong>The history:</strong> A sprawling property with gardens and a massive colonial house filled with antiques, Franklin House was built in the late 1830s by Britton Jones, a former convict who moved into brewing and innkeeping. Four years after it was finished, he leased the property to a schoolmaster, William Keeler Hawkes, who turned the mansion into a boys’ academy.</p> <p><strong>The hauntings:</strong> A not-for-profit group which volunteered to find out what happened on the premises after dark reported many experiences of paranormal activities; objects moving by themselves, noises in empty rooms and shadow figures in empty wings. High levels of electromagnetic energy and whispers were reportedly recorded in an upstairs bedroom, when asked “what is your name”, the group recorded a disembodied voice replying “Will”.</p> <p><strong>5. Gooloowan house; QLD</strong></p> <p><strong>The history:</strong> High up on Denmark Hill in Queensland, a 148-year-old Gooloowan house sits with a dark past. In the year 1889, a maid working at the house by the name of Rose Dold became pregnant by another worker. She went to lengths to conceal her pregnancy, had the child, then decided it would be best to lob it down the household well.</p> <p><strong>The hauntings:</strong> In the years following this abominable act, residents and passers-by claimed they could hear the cries of a baby coming from the well. Visitors and occupants at Gooloowan also reported seeing a female apparition stroll about the grounds in old maid’s clothes, while in some rooms – which have remained virtually unchanged all these years – a palpably foreboding presence could be felt, as if someone was watching one’s every move.</p> <p><strong>6. The entire town of Picton; NSW</strong></p> <p><strong>The history:</strong> If tales of a single haunted house isn’t enough to give you goosebumps, then perhaps stories of an entire haunted town will. Picton is reputed to be Australia’s most haunted town, so much so that they made a documentary about it. Of the haunted locations in Picton, the most famous is the disused Redback Range Tunnel, a 592-foot (180 m) railway tunnel. In 1916 a middle-aged woman named Emily Bollard, lived near the tunnel. Her brother lived on the family farm on the other side of the hill. Rather than climb the hill to visit, Emily would take a short cut through the tunnel. One Sunday afternoon Emily set off to visit her brother. Unfortunately, it is believed that Emily forgot to check the railway train timetable. Halfway down the tunnel she met a train. She was killed instantly and her body was carried on the front of the train into Picton.</p> <p><strong>The hauntings:</strong> In the years that followed, reports were made of a woman acting strangely in the tunnel. It is believed by locals that Emily still walks the tunnel. There were many other deaths and suicides in the Redback Range Tunnel while it was in use, and their spirits are said to also haunt the location. Visitors reported seeing unexplained lights and shadows, feeling gusts of wind, and occasionally seeing the ghost of a girl who hanged herself at the entrance of the tunnel.</p> <p>Have you ever been to these scary destinations?</p> <p><em>Written by Pauline Morrissey. Republished with permission of <a href="http://www.domain.com.au/" target="_blank"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Domain.com.au.</span></strong></a></em></p>

International Travel

Mysterious bodies turn up on ghost ship

<p>It might sound like a scene out of <em>Moby Dick</em>, but mysterious bodies have turned up on a “ghost ship”, which washed up off the northern coast of Japan this week.</p> <p>And while the emergence of the ship is still shrouded in mystery, a small detail hidden amongst the bodies has offered a clue to the origin of this skeleton-filled vessel.</p> <p>Senior local police official Hideaki Sakyo told <em>AFP</em> while there was little to identify the bodies by, boxes of North Korean tobacco and life jackets with figures in Korean script suggest the boat could’ve been populated by would-be defectors.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr">A ‘ghost ship’ containing 8 bodies washed up on Japan’s shore — and it may have come from North Korea <a href="https://t.co/Z8i8tlWGnB">pic.twitter.com/Z8i8tlWGnB</a></p> — NowThis (@nowthisnews) <a href="https://twitter.com/nowthisnews/status/935615035014918144?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 28, 2017</a></blockquote> <p>That said, there’s still no hard and fast proof.</p> <p>“Nothing else was found on the beach nearby, and so far we haven’t found anything (suggesting they may be defectors),” a Japanese coastguard spokeswoman told <em>AFP</em>.</p> <p>North Korean fishing vessels washing up on Japan’s coast isn’t an entirely uncommon occurrence, especially during winter where fishermen contend with high winds.</p> <p>North Korean fisherman often venture far and deep on government orders, and the old, poorly equipped vessels are prone to issues. Once something goes wrong, there are few rescue options available for people on the boat.</p> <p>Earlier this month a North Korean solider who managed to defect into the South made headlines after managing to cross the demilitarised zone (DMZ) despite being shot at five times.</p> <p>What are your thoughts?</p> <p><em>Hero image credit: Twitter / The Independant </em></p>

Cruising

This is Australia's ghost hot spot

<p>Do you see a ghost in this picture? For those who believe in the supernatural, the creepy and weird, you can see the place yourself as it’s right in our backyard.</p> <p>Apparently there’s one place in particular the paranormal are drawn to – the birthplace of European settlers in Australia, The Rocks in Sydney.</p> <p><img width="426" height="240" src="http://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/96f979841767fa99023b216f35303263" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"/></p> <p>“It’s where the first settlers settled, it was very brutal back in those times,” Wes Raddysh, from The Rocks Ghost Tours, told news.com.au.</p> <p>“Every spot will have its story, but the first stories all belong here in The Rocks.</p> <p>“A lot of them stay in the area because they’re so beholden to it. Quite a few Sydney Harbour rangers see a lot of the same ones.”</p> <p>The “ones” he speaks of is a specific ghost that lives in the Merchants House on George Street.</p> <p>According to the legend, in the 1800s a rich businessman strangled his wife to death after finding her in bed with another man. The woman is believed to still haunt the house and can be heard walking on the stairs.</p> <p><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FGhostTours.com.au%2Fposts%2F1461918840555905&width=500" width="500" height="474" style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true"></iframe></p> <p>“Quite a few people have sightings of this old woman,” Mr Raddysh said. “A lot of the rangers go there late at night but often what they see is an old lady.”</p> <p>The stairs of the house, which was built in 1848, are apparently the creepiest staircase in the city.</p> <p>Eerie photos are often sent in to the Rock Ghosts Tours by guest who took the tour.</p> <p>Another “hot spot” for ghosts in the area is the Garrison Church in Millers Point, the first military church built in colonial Australia.</p> <p>“The Rocks is a hot spot as it is the first settlement ... many of the spirits remain here as they know no other place. They effectively lived and died right here,” Mr Raddysh said.</p>

Domestic Travel

'Ghost' car appears out of nowhere to cause crash

<p>Staying safe on the roads these days is hard enough with negligent P-platers, road raging commuters, and motorists who seem glued to their iPhones.</p> <p>So, spare a thought for the driver of the white vehicle in this video, who had to content with a ghoulish phenomenon which has caused the strangest crash of 2017.</p> <p>In the footage below, the white car approaches an intersection, before being struck by what appears to be a “ghost” car which seems to appear out of nowhere.</p> <p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/PTyagIK5h7g" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p> <p>People commenting on the video have been perplexed, with Elfie De Souza writing, “Seriously I kept repeating the video, it seems the car appears out of nowhere.”</p> <p>Jacky Tong Liang with similarly confused, adding, “This is really weird. Played it a few times and still cannot figure out where the car comes from.”</p> <p>What are your thoughts? Do you think it’s just a matter of perspective? Or something more sinister?</p> <p><em> Hero image credit: YouTube / geogie hagaid</em></p> <p><a href="https://oversixty.disconline.com.au/car/new_quote.jsp?hSty=EXOS&cgpCde=00272&hCenCde=10737&LinkId=12071&utm_source=over60&utm_campaign=insurance&utm_medium=in-article-banner-car-1&utm_content=car-insurance" target="_blank"><img src="http://media.oversixty.com.au/images/EditorialAddon/201706_CarInsurance_EditorialAddon_468x60_1.gif" alt="Over60 Car Insurance - Get a quote!"/></a></p>

Insurance

CCTV catches “ghost" haunting Irish school

<p>An old high school in Cork, Ireland, is no stranger to spooky happenings, but the latest incident – which was captured on CCTV – has to be the scariest. Deerpark CBS has shared a video of its halls, recorded at 3 am on a Sunday, showing some seriously creepy goings-on.</p> <p>In the video, a door can be seen swinging in the corridor, a set of lockers starts shaking violently then ejects its contents, and a wet floor sign appears to be kicked over by an invisible force.</p> <p><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FIndependent.ie%2Fvideos%2F10155914204228470%2F&show_text=0&width=560" width="560" height="314" style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></p> <p>As easy as it is to dismiss the events as an elaborate prank, apparently this isn’t an isolated incident. The school, founded in 1828, has a long history of paranormal activity.</p> <p>Deerpark Principal Aaron Wolfe told Unilad that the caretaker once reported hearing “the last call” played on the trumpet in the middle of the night when the school was empty. A pupil once heard crying in the bathroom – despite being alone.</p> <p>But that’s not all. “The female members of staff do complain that this particular part is extremely cold,” he said. “It’s also outside the Religion Room – which is weird.”</p> <p>The plot thickens! Tell us in the comments below, do you believe the school is haunted? Or is this just the product of cheeky students and some very suggestible staff members?</p>

News

Photo of ghost-like figure spotted during full moon

<p><span>Residents from Mexico have sent many into confusion after posting a video of a strange light formation they spotted over the Gulf of California.</span></p> <p><span>Yasmin Duarte Valenzuela posted a video and photos of the eerie sight on Facebook and has already amassed over 63,000 views.</span></p> <div id="fb-root"></div> <div class="fb-post" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/100006467960955/posts/2353439044881671/" data-width="500" data-show-text="true"> <blockquote class="fb-xfbml-parse-ignore"> <p>Alguien me puede decir que es eso?🤔😱♥️ y después se quito 😳 Los barriles bcs. Haydee Duartte</p> Posted by <a href="https://www.facebook.com/dulceyasmin.duartevalenzuela">Yasmin Duarte Valenzuela</a> on <a href="https://en-gb.facebook.com/dulceyasmin.duartevalenzuela/posts/2353439044881671">Sunday, 6 August 2017</a></blockquote> </div> <p style="text-align: center;"><span> </span></p> <p><span>Yasmin said the light hovered next to the moon for a while until it went away.</span></p> <p><span>What do you think of this video? Do you think it's a ghost? Let us know in the comments below. </span></p>

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Photo of ghost-like figure spotted during full moon

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