Inhaltsverzeichnis für Oct-18 in Readers Digest Australia

TRENDS The sensory video craze sweeping YouTube: A guide to ASMR Does watching a video of someone eating a pickle or gently brushing their hair leave you feeling almost euphoric? ENVIRONMENT 7 Simple earth-friendly habits you can adopt today The key is to make small and sustainable changes in your daily life so these habits will become second nature. ENTERTAINMENT SAY NO TO THE KEKE CHALLENGE! Don’t get caught up in the latest viral dance craze. It could get you in trouble with the law! Join the conversation! PLUS Sign up to our FREE newsletter for more hot offers, top stories and prizes!…

I WAS ALMOST UNDONE by the kindness of an elderly flower seller at Sydney’s Central Station one evening. I was feeling as raw as the chill winds quickening the steps of the commuters who burrowed chins in scarves and hands deep into coat pockets. In many ways, 2018 had proven a tough year – a year of shedding. My teenage daughter had left home for university, my job of 23 years was no more, and a creative project I’d given my all to for years had also been abruptly called off. I also found out a person I’d thought was a friend was far from it. A year earlier, I’d dreamt about an earthquake. In the dream, a red light flashed inside a building and then the earth began to…

MYTH 1 YOU CAN’T EXERCISE If you have arthritis, the right fitness programme could help you get relief from your symptoms by improving strength, flexibility and range of motion. TIP Experts recommend at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise five days a week. Dust off your bike, buy a new bathing suit, start strength training – get moving in ways that bring you happiness. MYTH 2 EXERCISE PRODUCES JOINT PAIN The more sedentary you are, the more things are going to hurt. Exercise helps by building strength and flexibility and controlling weight. One less kilogram on the scale equals four kilograms less pressure on your knees. To keep your body happy, especially when you’re starting out, alternate easy days with more challenging days. Swim or use an exercise bike when…

AS SOON AS YOU LIE DOWN AT night, does your mind go straight to anything you could possibly stress about? How can you get to sleep when all you can think about is how you still need to tell a friend you can’t make your brunch date? It’s natural to jump to stressors when your mind finally has some quiet time to wander, but a racing mind can leave you tossing and turning. Thankfully, scientists have found a possible cure to help you shut down those anxious thoughts and finally get some shut-eye. Baylor University researchers investigated whether different types of writing could ease people into sleep. To find out, they had 57 young adults spend five minutes before bed writing either a to-do list for the days ahead or…

THE NEXT TIME YOUR PUP starts pacing during a thunderstorm, or you have to leave for a day and you know separation anxiety may ensue, consider turning on your radio or sound system. As mentioned here last issue, the sound of a human voice can be reassuring to pets, so you could tune into a talk station. However, according to a new Scottish study, dogs also like music – especially the sounds of reggae and soft rock. In the study, researchers from the University of Glasgow and the Scottish SPCA played six hours of music in five different genres (classical, soft rock, reggae, pop and Motown) to shelter dogs. While the dogs were listening, researchers took note of their heart rate variability, cortisol levels and behaviours that measure stress levels,…

CHECK THIS OUT After sending several emails to the wrong people, plus making silly spelling mistakes, I knew I needed to get my eyes checked. This fact became all the more obvious when one day I screamed at my friend to stop the car, leaping out to help a little old man bent over at the side of the road. ‘He’ turned out to be nothing more than a large, freestanding rubbish bin. But the final straw was when I followed the wrong person around the supermarket, putting things in his trolley. I’m pleased to say I’m now sporting an appropriate pair of spectacles! SUBMITTED BY KATH SHARMAN IN WAIT After confirming her pregnancy, my friend told her four-year-old daughter about the new brother or sister on the way. She…

Sam Lethbridge squinted through the smudged windscreen of his white SUV as a light drizzle fell. The 17 year old had spent the night with his mates in Wyoming on the Central Coast and was now making the 40-minute drive to his home in Lake Macquarie. It was 4.30am. Life was good. Sam had passed his driving test in October and had owned his own car for four months, a small Hyundai ix35. And on Friday he’d just signed up to a new electrical and air conditioning apprenticeship. After celebrating with friends, playing on the Play-Station and hanging out at McDonald’s, he was heading home along the familiar road towards bed. A keen boxer, soccer player and gym-goer, Sam was extremely fit. He never drank alcohol or took drugs. As…

Yoda enjoys a life of leisure. From the comfortable vantage point of a friendly lap, the hairless Sphynx cat surveys the room. There’s Doudou, lying in a hammock in the window and chattering away. Doudou loves to talk to herself. A couple of humans, a male and a female, sit close by, listening attentively as if they can understand what she’s saying. Yoda laughs to himself. These humans who come to visit – they love us so much, but have no idea what we really think! What else is going on? On one of the tables a female human has a large glass of milk with cream on the top. Yoda licks his lips. He may go and check that out shortly. He knows he’s not supposed to touch their…

Peyton James was an amazing boy. He had beautiful red hair, piercing hazel eyes that changed from green to blue, and a quirky sense of humour. He loved animals, road trips, Minecraft, Lego and chocolate ice cream. He was my Angelface – and now he is my angel in heaven. He was born in 2001, was nine weeks early and weighed only 1.14 kilograms. He spent 35 days in the neonatal intensive care unit before he was allowed to come home. While in the hospital, he spent three weeks on pure oxygen and was fed through a tube. What wasn’t known then was that the oxygen and liquid nutrition was causing a discolouration in the enamel of his permanent teeth – a problem that we wouldn’t see for several years.…

DISCOVERY 1. Bunny from the Florida Keys 2. Bright orange mushroom that can soak up and wring out water 3. Hippo-like prehistoric animal with massive lips 4. Ancient marine creature with an hourglass shape on its head 5. Horsefly with a gold-coloured rear (pictured) 6. Extinct sea creature with claws Edward Scissorhands would be proud of 7. Fly whose legs go bowlegged when it dies 8. Slime-mould beetle with a helmet head 9. Shrimp with bright pink-red claws SPECIES NAME A. Scaptia (Plinthina) beyonceae (Beyoncé) B. Agathidium vaderi (Darth Vader) C. Spongiforma squarepantsii (SpongeBob SquarePants) D. Campsicnemus charliechaplini (Charlie Chaplin) E. Synalpheus pinkfloydi (Pink Floyd) F. Sylvilagus palustris hefneri (Hugh Hefner) G. Norasaphus (Norasaphites) monroeae (Marilyn Monroe) H. Jaggermeryx naida (Mick Jagger) I. Kootenichela deppi (Johnny Depp)…

Exploring the best of London, Belfast, Dublin and Edinburgh in a group can be extremely rewarding, writes Alison Godfrey. 1 MAKE MEANINGFUL CONNECTIONS Group tours allow you to form life-long friendships built on common interests. Imagine walking the streets of Stratford-Upon-Avon with someone who shares your love of Shakespeare. Or tasting whisky in Edinburgh Castle with someone who appreciates Scotch. The toe-tapping sound of a fiddle in an Irish pub is always more fun when you have someone to dance with. Friendships formed on group tours are relationships based on common interests. Often these are the friendships that will last a lifetime. 2 ALL THE DETAILS ARE TAKEN CARE OF Great Britain and Ireland are lands rich in history and tradition, encompassing bustling metropolitan cities, quaint villages and lush green…

CHOCOLATE (EASY) Dad: “Where are the chocolate bars I bought?” Daughter: “I gave half of them to Mum and half a bar to my little brother. Then I gave half of what was left to Grandma and half a bar to my little sister. That left me with one bar, which I gladly ate myself.” How many chocolate bars did Dad originally buy? WINDOWS (MODERATELY DIFFICULT) The six letters shown have been placed, in an unknown order, into the six solid-red positions in the diagram to the right. The two images below reveal what’s visible in the dotted-line squares. What’s the order of the letters?…

1. anemone n. – A: ode in iambic pentameter. B: plant of the buttercup family. C: freshwater snail. 2. quinoa n. – A: set of five. B: edible starchy seeds. C: coat of arms. 3. isthmus n. – A: stuttering speech disorder. B: horizon bisected by the setting sun. C: narrow strip linking two land masses. 4. peremptory adj. – A: imperiously commanding. B: along an area’s perimeter. C: adjacent to valuable real estate. 5. mnemonic n. – A: growing. B: having a citrus flavour. C: memory aid. 6. hyperbole n. – A: large branch. B: red pigment. C: extreme exaggeration. 7. delectable adj. – A: extremely icy. B: detrimental. C: delightful. 8. inimitable adj. – A: impossible to imitate. B: repetitive.…

Arthur Hagopan is a semiretired journalist and educator. He lives in Sydney, enjoys creating 3D animation and digital music and is working on a book. IT WAS JUST AFTER MIDNIGHT and I was slogging through the graveyard shift, putting the finishing touches on the morning’s lead story at the Kuwait Times – whose CBD office was located just a hundred metres from Kuwait’s Old City gate – when the phone rang. It was Yousuf Alyan, the owner and editor of the daily tabloid. A former diplomat, he spoke English and French equally fluently – the latter having picked up from his Parisienne wife, Christine. An Armenian born in Jerusalem, I worked in Kuwait from 1963-68. At the time, Kuwait, like much of the Middle East, was experiencing rapid economic growth…

If you’re overweight, you’re at greater risk of developing osteoarthritis – particularly of the knees. Why? Experts believe that extra stress on the weight-bearing joints damages cartilage. According to one study, the risk of knee osteoarthritis increases by 36 per cent with every five kilograms of weight gain, and even a ten per cent weight loss can significantly improve overall function. While losing weight is important, reducing your percentage of body fat and increasing your muscle strength can also help enhance mobility. If you have osteoporosis in the knees, you should strengthen your quadriceps (upper thigh muscles). The stronger they are, the more strain they can take off your knees.…

Name: DEREK AMATO Discovered Talent: PIANO Some scientists believe that Amato’s musical skill is evidence that untapped potential lies in everyone, accessible with the right tools Name: JASON PADGETT Discovered Talent: MATHS Following his injuries, Padgett, who hadn’t progressed beyond pre-algebra in high school, became one of the few people in the world able to draw complex geometric patterns called fractals Name: ALONZO CLEMONS Discovered Talent: SCULPTURE Savants such as Clemons can store vast amounts of information in their memory banks. Clemons can sculpt perfect 3D animals after just glimpsing them on TV Derek Amato stood above the shallow end of the swimming pool and called for his buddy in the Jacuzzi to toss him the football. Then he launched himself through the air head-first, arms outstretched. The tips of…

The former owner of our house was moving out of state, so he was delighted when we asked him to leave behind anything that he didn’t want. Besides a lawnmower and several small tables, there was one item that had us bewildered. It was a board, one metre square, with two legs on one end, none on the other. I was about to toss it out when I spotted a note taped underneath: “When you want to paint in the stairwell, this fits on the fourth step to make a level platform. Then you go across the street and borrow Schmidt’s ladder.” SUBMITTED BY DON LITTLE…

WORLDWIDE, MORE THAN 300 MILLION PEOPLE live alone – and these numbers are increasing. In many countries, solo dwellers are the fastest growing housing demographic. Even if you relish aspects of living alone, such as having complete control of the TV remote control, challenges come with the freedom – like cooking for one and juggling finances. I didn’t choose to be alone. Few of us do. I fell into it post-divorce – not with an elegant swan dive but with a graceless belly flop. But now I have learnt not only to appreciate it, but even to prefer it. I am happy, but it took a while to get here. FOR ALL ITS PRECIOUS GIFTS of time and space, living alone comes with snakes as well as ladders. Our mettle…

Counting Sheep A farmer was wondering how many of his sheep had gone out to pasture, so he asked his sheepdog to count them. “There are 40,” said the dog upon his return. “That can’t be right,” said the farmer. “I only have 38.” “I know,” said the dog. “I rounded them up.” Source: corsinet.com I DON’T PUNDERSTAND YOU A friend and I were enjoying a coffee at our local restaurant when an acquaintance stopped at our table and said, “Hi, Ken. Can I join you?” “Why, am I falling apart?” I replied. SUBMITTED BY KEN MACKAY IN THE BAG An exercise for people who are out of shape: begin with a 5 kg potato bag in each hand. Extend your arms straight out from your sides, hold them there…

Young people who are bullied are more likely to be depressed, anxious, struggle with school work and experience mental health issues. If you are concerned about someone, then it is important to offer support and seek expert help for them – and yourself if you are being bullied. Experts say the risks are high when it comes to bullying. Girls who have been bullied are four times more likely to have suicidal tendencies than girls who haven’t been bullied, while boys that are bullied are two-and-a-half times more likely to think about suicide. To get help in Australia: Call 1800 55 1800 or visit www.kidshelpline.com.au or www.lifeline.org.au. New Zealand: Visit lifeline.org.nz, Lifeline Kidsline 0800 54 37 54, or upstand.org. Singapore: Visit cabcysg.wixsite.com/cabcysg Malaysia: Call Childline on 15999.…

“If everything was perfect, you would never learn and you would never grow.” BEYONCÉ , singer Find something you’re passionate about and keep tremendously interested in it.JULIA CHILD, gourmet cook Originality is the fine art of remembering what you hear but forgetting where you heard it. LAURENCE J. PETER, writer FOR ME, LIFE IS ABOUT EXPERIENCE AND BEING A GOOD PERSON.CHRIS HEMSWORTH, actor IF YOU COUNT ALL YOUR ASSETS YOU ALWAYS SHOW A PROFIT.WILSON MIZNER, playwright Children are happy because they don't have a file in their minds called ‘all the things that could go wrong’.MARIANNE WILLIAMSON, spiritual teacher…

Books Buzz: The Nature and Necessity of Bees Thor Hanson (ALLEN & UNWIN) The buzz on bees is they are more important today than ever. Ubiquitous, essential and, for the most part, unseen, they are the beating heart that binds the human and natural worlds. Meticulously researched and an entertaining read, who would have guessed a book dedicated to bees could be so engrossing? Hanson is clearly a conversational biologist with a passion. A thoughtful gift for anyone fascinated with natural history and how bees impact our daily lives. Bee-witching! Podcasts The Teacher’s Pet A true-crime investigation, The Teacher’s Pet is about the disappearance and probable murder of Lyn Dawson, a 33-year-old Sydney mother of two. It is the sordid and heartbreaking story of a loving wife, her sports teacher…

1. Which European country was governed by two women in mid-2010: a queen and a prime minister? 1 point 2. The first issue of Reader’s Digest in 1922 featured an article by what Scottish-born inventor? 2 points 3. Most famous for the raid on its airport, Entebbe was which country’s capital until 1962? 2 points 4. The Hawaiian deity Poli’ahu is associated with a weather phenomenon that rarely occurs in Hawaii below its peaks. Which one? 1 point 5. Blood from a Siberian specimen may contain enough DNA to clone what extinct animal? 1 point 6. Australia has the world’s largest sand island. What is it named? 1 point 7. Name the signature drink of the Raffles Hotel in Singapore. 1 point 8. The only Latin book to crack The…

Stories About Real People Growing up in the 1980s, some of my earliest and fondest memories are of stretching out on a lawn chair perusing Reader’s Digest with my grandmother. For hours we’d share jokes and articles and enjoy the magazine together. I taught myself to read by sitting through decades of issues lying around my grandmother’s house. I was always amazed the stories were about real people. I felt I knew them. As an only child in a pre-internet era, the connection meant a lot to me. LAURA MOORE Jokes from Dad Thanks for your corny collection of Dad Jokes (Life’s Like That, September). My name is Amy, and every morning when my dad got me up for school, he would say “Ready, Aim? Fire!” Yes, apparently for him,…

SIMON LOVELL WAS 31 and a professional con man. He spun the gambling tricks he’d learned from his grandfather into a lucrative business fleecing strangers. Without hesitation or remorse, he left his ‘marks’ broken in hotels all over the world. Nothing suggested that this day in 1988 would be any different. Lovell was in Europe when he spotted his next victim in a bar, plied him with drinks and drew him into a ‘cross’ – a classic con in which the victim is made to believe he or she is part of a foolproof, get-rich scheme. The con went perfectly. “I took him for an extremely large amount of money,” says Lovell. After he was done, Lovell hustled the drunk man out of the hotel room where the fleecing had…

I hate the auto-flush on the office bathroom toilet; it always goes off before I’m even done taking my nap. @TARASHOE ON TWITTER I like to lightheartedly tell my colleagues, “Don’t even talk to me until I’ve had my coffee!” And then I never get coffee. @HEYJULIAJOHNS A girl named Ruth quit working at our office. I’ve been referring to the office as “ruthless” since then. People are pissed. @GERRYHALLCOMEDY RECRUITER (calling me at work) Are you able to talk? ME Since the age of two. @KENTWGRAHAM We all had to sign a card for a collegue who’s retiring and I just wrote, “Please take me with you” in it. @GLENNA_OPT INTERVIEWER It says here your biggest weakness is focusing. ME Probably mashed potatoes. @CLICHEDOUT…

One afternoon a few months before Tom and I were to be married, Max wandered into the dining room where I was sorting through a box of old photographs. He tossed an orange foam ball over and over, and didn’t look at me; he just focused completely on the ball. Soon he began to twirl around after each toss, catching the spongy ball behind his back. Then he bounced the ball off the wall, then off the ceiling. “Nice moves,” I said. No reply. Wall. Ceiling. Twirl. Wall. “Whatcha doin’?” he finally asked. “Just trying to organise some of my pictures,” I said. In my months of living with them, I’d learned to let Max, who was all of seven, come close on his own. If I crowded him or…

It was 6pm, September 2001, and I was driving our van on an intercity highway. I was 36 and heading to dinner at my parents’ house. My husband was in Bermuda where he’d just landed a two-year contract and was looking for an apartment so I can join him. So it was just me making the half-hour drive I’d made hundreds of times. The news on the radio was the recent September 11 terrorist attacks. It seemed I couldn’t get away from the shocking news and images; I hadn’t been sleeping well. As I approached a bridge my heart suddenly started beating rapidly. Then my legs turned to jelly. You’re going to drive off the bridge, a voice in my head warned. Then my arms went numb. You’re about to…

All Smiles After photographing my client for a few minutes, I felt compelled to stop shooting and say, “I have to tell you, that’s a great smile you have.” Beaming, he said, “Thanks. I got it for my birthday.” SUBMITTED BY BEVERLY GUHL SPOT OF BOTHER While looking for a parking spot at his place of work, a friend was cut off by another car. The driver jumped out, turned to him and shouted “Sucks to be you!” My friend found another parking spot and went inside to interview a candidate for a job at the company. Guess who that person was? Source: reddit.com CAR TROUBLE A late arrival at the Nashville airport left me standing in front of a car rental agent one night. In a heavy southern drawl,…

FOR YEARS, PEOPLE have been naming their pets – and their kids, in some cases – after pop icons they love. In 2016, the name Khaleesi, in honour of the Game of Thrones character, was in the top 50 baby girl names in the US. Scientists, too, are constantly naming newly discovered species after celebs. But these names might carry a little bit more weight: while a baby named Khaleesi can get older and decide to legally change her name, scientific names go down in the history books. There’s the Agra schwarzeneggeri beetle, named after Arnold Schwarzenegger’s biceps; the Aleiodes shakirae wasp, named after Shakira’s hip and belly dance movements; and the list goes on. Turns out, there is a method to this seemingly mad nomenclature. Sometimes having a…

RIDDLE OF THE SPHINX Surprised excavators unearthed something atypical when digging in coastal dunes in California last year: an intact, 136-kilogram Egyptian sphinx head. The statue wasn’t an ancient original but an abandoned prop from the classic 1923 film The Ten Commandments. The sphinx will get a second shot at fame when the natural history museum near where it was found exhibits the remains. LOST AND FOUND Nineteen-year-old Gavin Strickland drove from New York to Toronto last year for a Metallica concert, leaving his car in a CBD parking station. However, it took four days, two nights, police assistance and an appeal on the internet before he saw his car again. Unfamiliar with the city, the teen failed to adequately note his vehicle’s location and couldn’t find it when the…