The only thing better than enjoying a new city is enjoying it from a sky-high vantage point. Hotel rooftops offer sweeping views, picturesque pools, beautifully crafted cocktails, fine dining, and sometimes even cinemas.

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Got a spare $100? Why not splurge on what could be the world’s most expensive hot dog. Forget those insipid pink frankfurters you settle for at IKEA, the $100 “haute dog” could be most luxurious sausage sizzle happening in Australia.

The “haute dog” consists of a brioche bun, an Australian Angus beef sausage, topped with Pèrigord black truffle-infused mustard that alone costs $100. In fact, the fancy sausage sandwich comes with a 100 gram pot of fancy Maille mustard so you can make any burnt banga on bread slightly better at a moment’s notice.

It’s all part of the Maille Mustard Mobile truck which is currently travelling around Australia. “It is a very tasty, very sought after mustard,” Maille ambassador Joe Barrs told Mashable Australia. “We had a tub of it air freighted to us about a month ago…and we’ve sold out.”

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It may seem like another typical 360 degree video captured atop a moving car but you’d be very wrong. For starters, the vehicle isn’t any normal car and secondly, the driver is far from human.

This is the new Top Gear and this is The Stig taking viewers on a hot lap in an Ariel Nomad – the off-road brethren of the fire breathing Ariel Atom open-wheeler road car.

Watch on as The Stig wrangles the lightweight machine through the corners with surgical-like precision and lightening quick footwork. The car itself is powered by a 235hp Honda engine mounted behind the driver to deliver true buggy-style performance.

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Fashion and music have long gone together as a winning combination throughout modern history. Today that bond gets even stronger with acclaimed designer Alexander Wang signing on as the first Apple Music curator for the Cupertino company’s upcoming dedicated fashion channel.

The American native’s playlist’s will include categories such as ‘Chill’, ‘Hype’ and ‘Vibe’ or songs that evoke “dark, sexy vibes and turn-up anthems,” according to the new channel’s homepage.

Chill will be specifically curated for the unwinding creative whilst Vibe will feature classic songs with high energy. “It’s good for having people over, drinks; it’s kind of pre-game music,” Wang told Vogue. Hype is self-explanatory and will feature songs that kick up the energy for those heading out.

Followers of Wang on the Apple fashion music channel can expect artists such as Drake and Rihanna. In what’s notably an RnB inspired playlist, Wang also adds that he relies on The Weeknd to decompress after a long day or stay in for the night.

And the origins of the designer’s pickings?

“I would go to the mall in the Timbs and cargo jeans – that definitely stemmed from all the hip-hop music I was listening to,” he said.

“I was always a big fan of Trina, so her whole Diamond Princess album was on constant repeat. I just remember me and my friends, driving my Volkswagen Beetle, blasting Trina through Presidio Heights, Nob Hill, or these really bougie areas in San Francisco. It was really quite hilarious.”

The playlists from Wang will change regularly throughout the year so it’s a sure bet that the tunes will stay as fresh as the man’s designs.

New playlists, compliments of @AlexanderWangNY.
CHILL. HYPE. VIBE.https://t.co/dRMOXuAw0H#AppleMusicFashionhttps://t.co/OS1acuC8cW

— Apple Music (@AppleMusic) June 6, 2016

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What do you do when you come face-to-face with billionaire icon Sir Richard Branson? Ask him to grow his beard, of course. Well, at least that’s what This Is Beard Season founder Jimmy Niggles did when he met the English business magnate last week.

In fact, Branson is the latest ambassador for This Is Beard Season, the Aussie organisation turning seriously impressive beards into life saving conversation starters to challenge the world to book a skin check for melanoma.

Niggles’ idea for This Is Beard Season was inspired by long-time friend Wes who tragically lost his battle to an aggressive form of cancer caused by melanoma in 2010 at the young age of 26.

“We were literally at Wes’ wake, and there were these old farmers in the corner of the bar who had amazing big farmer, wizard beards and we wondered why nobody our age were rocking beards anymore? This was 6 years ago, and nobody was growing a beard our age or younger, so we threw the idea around and thought growing a beard takes a fair bit of commitment…the same kind of commitment you need to go and get a skin check,” says Jimmy.

Today, Beard Season passes on the message through a dichotomy of personal interaction and social media. By simply meeting people, starting a conversation, and feeding those encounters through the Beard Season Instagram page, Niggles has seen the campaign gain incredible momentum and take on a wooly-faced life of its own.

Most recently, Beard Season took to the Australian Open of Surfing where an expert team from WA checked 116 peoples skin. “Out of those we found five Stage 2 melanomas – which is pretty much when you need to go straight to the doctor – and 29 early stage, or pre-cancerous, BCC melanomas. Nearly a third of everyone who got checked…it’s crazy.”

Now that the Beard Season phenomenon is a registered not-for-profit and generating a huge following overseas, Niggles has a new goal – the Million Dollar Beard.

“I want to sell my beard for a million dollars. I got to a point where I thought I can’t just shave it off tomorrow…it’s got such a big story now. I figured if I can sell my beard – take it off, put it in a glass case intact, along with all the stories of all the people it’s helped saved – then that would be a great way for a company or a philanthropist to come on board and help us take the next step”

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Those who are familiar with Banksy’s artwork will know that the mysterious figure often pops up in the most obscure places amidst unjust and conflict to showcase his work.

His latest effort takes a more innocent route on a building side in Bristol’s Bridge Primary School. The school recently sent the unknown artist a letter to inform him that they had named a building after him. In return, Banksy came to the school and created a cool mural which portrays a stick figure child rolling a flaming tyre outdoors. True to its form, the art is believed to represent the growing youth and its innocence whilst the flaming tyre depicts the challenges that children face in everyday life including conflict, distractions and a changing world.

To create this latest piece, Banksy used a stencil, spray paint and freehand painting. A short and signed message from Banksy was even left behind for the school’s students and teachers. It read:

Dear Bridge Farm School, thanks for your letter and naming a house after me. Please have a picture, and if you don’t like it, feel free to add stuff. I’m sure the teachers won’t mind. Remember, it’s always easier to get forgiveness than permission.

Much love, Banksy.

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Brown Sugar, how come you taste so good? I want a little sugar in my bowl. Pour some sugar on me.

Our love of the sweet stuff is nothing new, but our understanding of its detrimental health effects grows all the time. Sugar mirrors the effects of a drug, affecting the addiction and reward circuitry in your brain, and creating a variety of problems that go far beyond belly fat.

We’re not here to knock the quest for a slimmer waist and more defined abs (far from it), but that’s not the only reason to tame your sweet tooth for good. Here are 6 other negative effects of sugar that are backed by science.

#1 It Causes Chaos In Your Brain

A recent study at the University of California in Los Angeles found that consuming fructose, a sugar commonly found in the Western diet, alters hundreds of genes in your brain that are linked to series diseases. How serious? We’re talking diabetes, Alzheimer’s, ADHD, depression, Parkinson’s, cardiovascular disease, and more. An earlier study found that eating too much sugar can impair cognitive function and reduce proteins that are essential to memory and responsiveness.

#2 Your Swimmers Slow Down

Guzzle too many sodas and your swimmers will barely be treading water. Men who drink more sugar-sweetened beverages have lower sperm motility than guys who limit their intake. Research shows a surprisingly direct connection between increased sugar consumption and decreased semen quality, as evidenced by this study carried out at the University of Rochester during 2009-2010.

#3 It Sabotages Your Skin

Children may love to binge on sweets, but eating sugar won’t make you look younger. Over time, sugar consumption can make your skin dull and wrinkled by damaging collagen and elastin and making you more vulnerable to sun damage. It can also trigger unpleasant skin conditions like acne (no, it’s not a myth) and psoriasis.

#4 Your Immune System Suffers

So now you’re pudgy, pimply, and possibly infertile – and to make matters worse, sugar is also wreaking havoc on your immune system. Excess sugar can inhibit phagocytosis, the fancy name for the process by which viruses and bacteria are annihilated by your protective white blood cells. The more donuts you devour, the more your body’s ability to fight infection drops.

#5 It Crushes Your Self-Control

You don’t need science to tell you a lack of self-control is a side effect of sugar, but it helps to understand why. Over-consumption of sugar triggers the production of ghrelin, the hormone that signals to your body that it’s hungry. Put simply, more sugar causes more cravings for sugar. And that’s not all.

The post 6 Scary Things Sugar Does To Your Body (That Aren't About Fat) appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

One wine glass for your Burgundy, another for your Chardonnay, a flute for your Champagne, and before you know it there’s no room left for the coffee cups. You’ve been told your whole life that different kinds of grapes require different glasses in order to reach their full flavour potential – but what if it’s been a lie all along?

According to sommeliers – and they’re the ones who ought to know – you really only need one wine glass. Can you guess which one it is?

Andre Mack, former head sommelier at Thomas Keller’s Per Se and founder of Mouton Noir Wines, says the one and only wine glass you’ll ever need is “a crystal-clear and thin glass that has a stem with a bowl that’s larger than the top of the glass.” It’s almost shockingly simple.

Master Sommelier Dustin Wilson echoes Mack’s sentiment and shared a few of his favourites with The Kitchn. At the top of the list is the Zalto Denk’Art Universal Glass, an elegant option that clocks in at US$59.00 per glass. If you’re on a budget, Crate & Barrel have a variety of affordable alternatives and IKEA’s Hederlig wine glass will set you back only US$1.99.

What’s more interesting is the story behind the stemware. We owe the glass bonanza to just one company, explains Mack: Riedel. The Austrian glassware manufacturer “really pioneered the theory that different shapes of glasses enhance the flavors in wine in the early ’90s,” he says. “[It] is still a front-runner in the industry, touting their glasses as ‘wine tools.'”

So is it all a scam? Have the wine-loving public had the grape leaves pulled over their eyes for two decades?

It turns out wine is a mix of science and hype. “Wines do show slightly differently out of different glasses,” Wilson concedes. “However, I believe this to be more of a marketing ploy than anything else. It drives people to think they need the ‘perfect’ glass in order to experience the wine in the best way possible, therefore pushing people to buy more glasses than they actually need.”

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Problem: I’m skint, but I want to see the world.

Solution: travel hacking.

The life of a luxury traveller doesn’t take a billionaire’s bank account. Travel hackers have figured out how to game the system – without breaking the rules – so they can see the world and still make rent.

If you’ve been following along, you’ve read A Beginner’s Guide To Travel Hacking: Level One and you’re now an expert in booking cheap flights. The next step is to become a ninja in one of the oldest travel hacking tactics around: accruing miles via loyalty programs.

Experienced travel hackers collect miles like Scouts collect merit badges (minus the creepy Scout leaders) and use their haul to score free flights and upgrades. Want to join their hallowed ranks? Get started with the beginner’s guide to travel hacking, level two.

Miles For Dummies

Frequent flyers know that joining airline loyalty programs is one of the best ways to lower travel costs and score pampering perks. It makes sense: in exchange for your consistent patronage, a business rewards you with better prices, special offers, and other things that make you feel like a valued customer.

For the average traveller, choosing the best rewards program depends on many factors – from network coverage to the ease of redeeming a free flight – and many of the miles earned go unredeemed before they expire. Even if they are used, they often go to domestic economy tickets that aren’t that expensive to begin with.

But we’re not talking about average travellers. We’re talking about travel hackers. As a budding member of that sacred club, you’ll want to expand your reach, understand alliances, and start seeking status.

Travel Hacking: Level Two

With the level one skills firmly under your (designer) belt, you’re ready to explore the flashier side of travel hacking.

The newbies cut their teeth on secret strategies for booking cheaper flights. Intermediate travel hackers crave something more – more complexity, more options, and more savings. The cornerstone of travel hacking at this level is to maintain multiple accounts of frequent flyer miles. Start ASAP – the sooner you begin collecting miles, the sooner you can redeem them for a dream trip. Here’s how:

Join All Rewards Programs Possible

Airline loyalty programs are free to join, so you have nothing to lose by signing up for every one. Each time you fly with a new airline, be sure to join that program immediately to earn credit. There’s no reason to take a flight if you’re not earning miles.

Eventually you’ll end up with a large number of reward accounts. To keep track of them, use a service like AwardWallet or TripIt that helps to manage all your accounts in one place. Not only do these services give you a snapshot of what you’ve earned, they can also alert you when miles are about to expire.

Be A Repeat Customer

They’re called loyalty programs for a reason. Loyal customers are rewarded, not occasional flyers who don’t know their Ryanair from their Virgin. The more faithful you can be, the faster your miles will accumulate. Although it won’t always be possible due to cost or availability, try your best to be an airline regular. This is the tortoise approach to travel hacking, not the hare’s.

(Note: if you can’t commit at all, you may do better with a generic travel rewards credit card. More on that in Level Three.)

Check Frequently For Promotions

Not all airline perks are obvious. Before booking a ticket, check the airline’s website to see if they’re running a promotion that can earn you bonus miles. Promotions may also be sent out to mailing list members, so be sure to subscribe for every airline (and arrange to have them automatically sent to a specified folder or label so they don’t clutter your inbox).

You may also be able to earn miles for completing tasks. Some airlines, for example, offer points for completing surveys or purchasing something through their links.

Take Advantage Of Partner Airlines

This is where a lot of wannabe travel hackers miss out. Understanding airline alliances is a key part of maximising your miles and points. Your miles are more flexible than you think.

Most airlines are part of a larger network of airlines called – you guessed it – an “alliance.” And what does that mean for you? It means that if you earn miles with one airline’s loyalty program, you can use them to book a flight with any other airline in that alliance. How’s that for a sweet deal?

The tricky part is knowing which airlines are in what alliance. Star Alliance, for instance, has 28 member airlines at the time of writing, including Air Canada, Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines, and United. SkyTeam and Oneworld are the two other major airline alliances. Most airlines also have partners that aren’t in an alliance – or are even members of another alliance.

Confusing? Yes. But the information is only a Google search away and the benefits are worth it. Earning on partner airlines prevents you from being stuck with miles on a carrier you rarely fly, and gives you more options when you’re flying on a carrier with a subpar rewards program.

Strive For Status

Earn enough miles with a loyalty program and you’ll be rewarded even further. Elite status is the revered distinction sought after by all travel hackers. Passengers who achieve it are given preferential treatment and a variety of perks as a result of their status, which is often allocated in a tiered system (think Silver, Gold, and Platinum).

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