The travel industry had its handbrake yanked in 2020.

Out of the smoke, however, experts are optimistic we will see a number of innovations that will improve the travel experience.

One such trend is the ‘no touch’ plane cabin – a design concept which forms part of the broader phenomenon of ‘touchless travel.’

‘Touchless travel’ refers to everything from automatic-flushing toilets in airport and plane bathrooms to automated scan-and-board gates, controlling your inflight entertainment system from your own phone or tablet, and more.

RELATED: The Bizarre New Reality Of Flying Business Class To Europe

Bligh Williams, Group Director at Workplace Services Australia (a specializing Workplace Services consulting company), who has been involved in a number of major transformation and transition projects for both the private and public sector, told DMARGE, “No touch has existed in many built environments by using sensors (e.g. taps and flushing) in bathrooms, or contactless lockers [which work off bar code readers or blue tooth on you mobile phone],” for many years now.

“This type of technology should be able to be adopted in the aviation sector and on a wider scale through a variety of built environments.”

“With or without a vaccine people have become more hygiene conscious and [have developed] increased spatial awareness,” Williams added.

This fits in with what Daniel Baron, who operates LIFT Aero Design, an aircraft cabin design studio with offices in Tokyo and Singapore, recently told CNN: “Touchless travel promises peace of mind.”

According to Baron, ‘touchless travel’ is not just about hygiene but “the state of not having to even think about ‘clean,’ made possible by technologies and processes to mitigate angst along the journey.”

It also involves, CNN reports, not just touch-free but also ‘less-touch’ and ‘fewer-touch’ innovations, with the most promising cabin area for an overhaul being plane toilets.

“It is common knowledge in the cabin interiors industry that even before Covid, many passengers hesitated to use lavatories out of negative perception; in other words, having to touch dirty surfaces,” Baron told CNN.

“We have seen incremental improvements over the past decade, mostly touchless faucets and toilet lids and flush buttons. Next will be soap dispensers and hand dryers, plus the doors and locks.”

Some of this will be automated (think: sensors) but some of it will be about redesigning physical implements (think: doors or bins you can open with your feet).

This revolution faces a number of obstacles to overcome, such as safety regulations (think: electrical load testing, electromagnetic interference and general safety testing). However, experts are hopeful passengers’ shifting priorities may help get it over the line.

“The technology is ready,” IAMA Managing Director Nicole Noack told CNN. “Before Covid-19, the return on investment was the key challenge. But with the new normal, those technologies might become crucial to have passengers trust again in air travel.”

RELATED: Business Class Passenger Reveals ‘Pandemic Safety Feature’ Missing From Economy

Practically every airline (from Qatar Airways and Qantas, to Singapore Airlines, just to name a few) has acknowledged the importance not just of limiting passenger-crew contact and having excellent hygiene this year, but promoting the perception that there is limited passenger-crew contact and excellent hygiene.

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The post Touchless Travel: The Aviation Design Trend Ready To Explode appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

The pointlessness of life sometimes smacks us all in the face.

All it takes is forgetting your headphones on a one-hour bus trip and boom: existential crisis.

Of course, there’s a difference between being clinically depressed, and thinking: “should I really be getting Uber Eats every night?”, but the point is, we all go through periods where we feel bleak.

Two of the big messages we hear from mental health organisations in response to this are “you’re not alone” and “these feelings are normal.”

The idea being? Reduce the stigma around opening up about mental health, and more people will speak up and get help, ultimately saving lives.

However, a recent experience New York based comedian and co-host of Oops The Podcast Francis Ellis recently shared shows the “you’re not alone” message is not the only one that can help pull someone out of a spiralling moment.

Ellis shared how, while he was not “clinically depressed” but “marinating in bleakness” earlier this year (not enjoying things he usually enjoys and generally feeling like shit), his girlfriend snapped him out of it with a simple phrase.

“You’re too fucking smart to let these thoughts win.”

“In this moment we sat at the counter, she grabbed my hands, and she said to me, ‘you are too fucking smart to lose to these thoughts. You’re too smart to let whatever’s happening in your brain beat you.'”

Ellis likened it to a softer version of Michael Jordan pretending someone said something in a press conference “to get angry and psyched up” and be able to play better.

“I had never heard that before, from a psychologist or otherwise,” Ellis said of the experience on a later date, speaking to DMARGE. “It really struck a chord with me and played upon my competitive instincts, allowing me to conceptualise my feelings as a sporting event, in a way.”

“It turned my negative thoughts into just another opponent, and made me think I’ve got a very good chance of beating them, and that I should stop giving them more credit than they are due.”

He also said (during the podcast) this proved in stark contrast to an email from his dad. Though he said talking to his dad and sharing his feelings felt good, there was a certain comment in the email that didn’t do much for him.

“What I hear a lot and what I heard from my dad was ‘everyone is feeling this way right now, you’re not alone, you’re not unusual.’ That doesn’t really help me.”

“Knowing that other people are [going through the same] may help a lot of people, and I’m sure it does… but I’m looking more for tangible ways – tactics – for how to pull myself out of feeling like shit.”

“So what my girlfriend said is the most helpful thing I’ve heard.”

“Hopefully that will strike a chord out there with some people.”

Speaking to DMARGE, Ellis added, “I definitely think there is room for more nuanced messaging in the mental health space. Unfortunately it’s just not a case of one size fits all. I don’t know that what my girlfriend said to me would work for everyone. But I also know that the message of ‘a lot of people have these thoughts… you’re not alone’ didn’t work for me at all.”

“It was never comforting to know that what I was feeling wasn’t some aberration. I feel for the many people who have had similar dark times, but it didn’t exactly comfort me or provide any source of attack plan.”

Associate Prof Samuel Harvey, Chief Psychiatrist at Black Dog Institute, told DMARGE when we put Ellis’ situation to him: “We need to change the way we talk about mental health in our society.”

“I think for many years there was so much stigma that we needed to get everyone talking about mental health and we needed to normalise the experience of people suffering from things like depression and anxiety because they are so common.”

“I think there is a risk we have shifted the pendulum too far in that discussion and that now there is so much talk about depression and anxiety that there’s a risk you almost feel unusual if you’re not suffering from it. The danger of this is it chips away our resilience. One of the things we know is that people are able to cope with things and that part of our role is to help people find their strength and utilise that to help them cope.”

RELATED: How Much Slack You Should Be Cutting Yourself In Isolation, According To A Psychologist

Ellis told DMARGE something similar: “We went from nobody talking about [mental health] at all to EVERYBODY talking about it, and now it almost feels like people are tuning it out because the rhetoric is everywhere. From not sharing enough to oversharing? I hate to say that, and I don’t believe it myself, but I think a lot of people feel that way. ‘Everyone’s depressed, get over it’ and that sort of thing.”

“I think the way to combat this is to encourage people to have REAL conversations about it. Don’t just write a blog and send it out, or get on stage and joke around about it. Talk to your friends about it in earnest conversations. See a therapist. When people provide real details and talk about what their day is like, instead of just saying broadly ‘I’m depressed,’ that can help too.”

“Specificity helps.”

Prof Harvey told DMARGE the “you’re too smart to let these thoughts win” approach is “not the answer for everyone and different people have different strengths that they call upon in different situations.”

That said, “encouraging people to focus on their strengths as they recover from these things can be a really useful therapeutic strategy.”

Dr Lars Madsen, a forensic and clinical Psychologist, who is also the Lead clinical advisor for the mental health charity The Mindshift Foundation, told DMARGE, “when you’re close to someone, and you think about their strengths and weaknesses, your judgement can be ok.”

Dr Madsen told DMARGE statements like this – ones that challenge a friend or loved one’s negative thinking – are essentially “cognitive therapy.”

“It helps people understand what they’re thinking.”

“The core principle across interventions is the same; what it looks like (or what works) for each individual is different.”

“The message I give to clients is: ‘figure out what works best for you, based on your history.'”

As for Ellis? Dr Madsen said – in his opinion – the “you’re too smart” intervention could feel “callous” for some people, but what’s happened in Ellis’ case is great.

“He’s had interaction with someone who has assisted him to reframe his experience with his thoughts.”

“That’s fantastic.”

In terms of advice, Prof Harvey, for his part, said we should treat depression and anxiety as any other disorder – “it’s just part of our narrative that if you know someone suffering from a serious physical health problem like cancer you talk about them battling it and help them line up the best medical help for them to do that – it [should be] exactly the same with depression and anxiety.”

“I think the most important message to get out there for depression is that we’ve got really good treatments for these conditions now, so the idea of just empathising with somebody and not being able to actively do something about it is not the case anymore.”

“If you know someone who’s having trouble with depression and anxiety link them up with a good quality health [provider] because these are treatable conditions and it’s so frustrating when as a clinician I see people who have delayed getting good quality help for years, sometimes decades, and then we can simply treat these problems once we’ve got them in front of us.”

“Sadly the mental health system is still a bit complicated for people to negotiate so sometimes they have to try at a couple of different places or with a couple of different people, but the simple message is these things are treatable and you just find the right treatment for you.”

RELATED: How To Ask A Mate, ‘R U Ok?’ Without Making Things Awkward

Another important message worth keeping in mind is breaking out of your typical “introvert” mould (if you’re an introvert), when you’re stuck in a bad mental place, can pay dividends.

Mark Mathews, a big wave surfer who had to put his career on ice after snapping every ligament in (and severing the artery of) his knee during a catastrophic injury in the 2015/2016 season, spoke to DMARGE about this last week.

“I’m hyper introverted, so I often avoid social situations and being alone is usually better for me. But in those times [when I’m in a dark place], having people around and having enough social interaction is kind of a must, just in that it breaks up your thinking pattern because you’re constantly dwelling – but if you have to talk to people [that stops you].”

Other key factors, according to Mathews, “that are radically overlooked when it comes to mental health, are diet and exercise.”

“Stop eating junk food and drinking alcohol. Go out into nature and do some exercise… What consists of a healthy diet is very misunderstood in this country and probably causing a lot of psychological distress because people are metabolically sick.”

Humour can also be a way of dealing with dark, sad thoughts. As Ellis told DMARGE: “something as simple as turning on The Office on a night when you’re feeling really down, or alone, can serve as a gentle cushion and maybe take the venom out of your own brain, just a bit.”

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The post 'You're Too Smart For This': Comedian's Mental Health 'Clutch Message' appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

Think Premier League players – or any football/soccer player for that matter – and you’ll no doubt picture the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Mo Salah and (maybe) Harry Kane. What these players all have in common – despite great skill on the ball – is a lean build that grants them agility along with a healthy dose of strength to provide stamina and speed.

What you probably wouldn’t imagine, is someone with the build of Adama Traoré. The Spanish youngster (seriously, he’s just 24 years old) currently plays on the wing for recently promoted Premier League side Wolverhampton Wanderers, as well as Spain’s national team.

Traoré has always shown footballing talent from a young age, being drafted into Barcelona’s youth squad at the tender age of eight and in recent years has been described as having “rapid acceleration” along with high levels of strength.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Adama Traore Diarra (@adamatrd37) on Apr 21, 2020 at 12:44pm PDT

Take one look at the man, and it’s easy to see where those comments relating to strength come from. He’s an absolute unit, with a build more closely associated with rugby, and one you don’t often see these days in the world’s most competitive football league.

But how he goes about gaining such size is even more mind-boggling. Adama has been quoted as saying he doesn’t do any form of weight training, claiming he’s just genetically blessed to gain muscle mass with ease.

A mind-blowing paradox if there ever was one (something Instagram users have picked up on time and time again).

Sports pundits have been claimed to back up these claims, saying “he doesn’t do any gym on his arms or upper body.” Even Luis Enrique, the Spanish football team’s manager says “he doesn’t do weights.”

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A post shared by Bleacher Report Football (@brfootball) on Oct 13, 2020 at 10:40am PDT

So how does he – and to a greater extent, you – achieve the figure he has if he doesn’t lift a single dumbbell or barbell? DMARGE reached out to Ben Lucas, Director of Flow Athletic to find out if Adama’s claims can, in fact, be true.

Ben tells us, “it is absolutely possible to build a shape like this by just using bodyweight exercises and calisthenics (bodyweight exercises with the aid of bars, rings and jump ropes)  as both of these training styles require you to recruit a lot of muscles in order to stabilise.”

However, as for Adama’s claims that he doesn’t do any other form of training on his upper body, Ben is inclined to disagree, “It’s unlikely that he is doing nothing/not working his upper body at all to achieve this figure unless he is using something else. But even then, if is he doing nothing he would be a dime in a dozen.”

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A post shared by Adama Traore Diarra (@adamatrd37) on Jul 29, 2020 at 11:32am PDT

And as for those claims of being genetically gifted? “Genetics certainly would play a role, but it is very likely that a good diet and consistent training would also be taking place.”

The International Sports Science Association says that yes, genes do play a role in determining how well you can build muscle, although as for exactly how they make a difference isn’t fully understood just yet. The ISSA adds that testosterone levels play a role too, as decreased levels correlate with a loss of muscle, or at least, make it harder to build new muscle tissue.

As for how you can tell if you’re genetically blessed remains unclear, the only way to truly find out is to get yourself into a gym – or find yourself some space at home – workout, eat well and track your results.

We wouldn’t suggest trying to compare yourself to Adama just yet, but it’s always good to set goals.

Oh and with regards to the title of ‘strongest player ever’ – though we’d argue Traoré is a serious contender (perhaps even the winner), there have been numerous other hugely ripped players not just in the EPL, but football’s other major leagues too (think: Toure, Samba, Ibrahimovic, Lukaku, Drogba, Chiellini; Benteke).

It’s also not the first time Wolves have picked a startlingly strong fullback, with
George Elokobi making his presence more than felt on attackers as a regular first time player between 2009 and 2011.

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The post Adama Traoré Strength: Premier League Youngster Is Mind-Blowingly Jacked appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

South Australia’s surf wars have lately been leading to death threats and property damage. Bondi beach recently saw a more indecent proposition than the 1993 film of the same name. The Gold Coast has been plagued with shark attacks, and Byron Bay is now seeing some crazy overcrowding.

All that in mind, it’s nice to see something positive come out of the world of wave sliding.

An old photo from 1963 has recently been doing the rounds on Instagram, providing Australian surfers with a sweet hit of nostalgia – and a peek into a long-gone era of cool cars and cooler surfboards (never mind that both struggled to do much other than go straight).

RELATED: Timeless Bondi Photo Unearths Forgotten Era Of Australian Motoring

The shot, taken at Yallingup (a town in the South West region of Western Australia, 256 kilometres south of Perth), features the boards and vehicle of an Australian surfing pioneer.

 

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A post shared by Surfing Western Australia (@surfing_wa) on Sep 9, 2020 at 3:18pm PDT

As @surfing_wa recounts, “Fremantle surfer Howard ‘The Ghost’ Kent was an acclaimed big wave rider in the South West in the early days.”

“He painted his face with white zinc cream & he would scream across Margaret River’s & Yallingup’s biggest waves.”

“Here’s Ghost’s Holden panel van parked up at Yallingup, overflowing with vintage malibu surfboards in 1963!”

RELATED: Kelly Slater Scoring Filthy Waves In Bali Sparks Fierce ‘Travel Equality’ Debate

The post was liked by, among others, Taj Burrow – an aerial wizard and modern West Australian surfing phenomenon – who helped open the surfing world’s eyes to the potential of the region’s much-maligned ‘devil winds,’ and who, after a successful career as both a free-surfer and competition surfer, retired from the world tour in 2016.

 

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1970: Murray Smith with single fin Hawke Surfboard. Murray started his surf industry career with Hawke Surfboards in Osborne Park. : Murray Smith #surfingdownsouth #hawkesurfboards #murraysmith #singlefin #surfing #surfboard #surfer #surfsup #margaretriver #margaretriverregion #downsouth #downsouthwa #guillotine

A post shared by Surfing Down South (@surfingdownsouth) on Jan 14, 2018 at 9:57am PST

This isn’t the first time an iconic image has been resurrected online, with Instagram account @surfingdownsouth sharing a 1970 Murray Smith photo of a single fin Hawke Surfboard, overlooking what appears to be Margaret River, to the tune of 99 likes, in 2018.

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The post Yallingup Surf: Lost Age Of Australian Surfing Unearthed appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

The Concorde, a ‘supersonic’ passenger aircraft that flew faster than the speed of sound, made its last commercial flight almost 20 years ago.

Since 2015, rumours of the Concorde returning to the skies continue to swirl around and the word Concorde is still the biggest buzzword today when it comes to ultra-fast flights.

Concorde flew its last commercial flight back in 2003, a demise brought upon by financial problems, high maintenance costs and a major Air France crash in 2000 which tragically killed all 113 passengers on board.

Throw in the flying fears after 9/11, and the Concorde’s fate was sealed after a 27-year flight history with only one accident (if a notorious one) recorded during its time in operation.

What many Australians may not know, however, is that Qantas almost had a Concorde jet of its own.

The opportunity first crossed Qantas executives’ desks in 1960. The jet age was in full bloom, and both governments and aircraft manufacturers were lining up to be the first to offer commercial airline passengers supersonic travel.

The Flying Roo’s first concept for a supersonic service on the Kangaroo Route (the name given at the time to the routes flown between Australia and the United Kingdom via the Eastern Hemisphere) involved customers eating breakfast soon after leaving Sydney and then arriving at lunchtime in London, all on the same day.

The idea was that passengers would be in the air for just under 10 hours, with quick refuelling stops in Darwin, Singapore, Calcutta, Karachi and Cairo.

The entire journey was planned to take 13 and a half hours – 30 minutes faster than it takes to fly from Singapore to London today, achieved by flying at twice the speed of sound.

The next part of the tale is history: British and French aircraft manufacturers joined forces to develop the famous Concorde, and Boeing worked on its own version of the aircraft after winning an industry competition established by US President John F Kennedy.

According to Qantas itself, “In 1964 Qantas paid a $600,000 [$16 million in today’s money] deposit on six Boeing-manufactured supersonic SST aircraft” and also “had options on four Concordes.”

However, long design delays and a decrease in commercial travel, saw interest wane in supersonic travel, and the project became less commercially viable.

There was also concern about the noise created by aircraft travelling at Mach 2.5, a speed which creates a ‘sonic boom.’

This sonic boom was a problem because it meant supersonic flights would only have been allowed to really open up over long stretches of water, reducing the number of routes the aircraft could operate.

In light of all this, Boeing ended up dropping the SST program and focussing on turning a previous concept of a large freighter aircraft into a new passenger plane, creating the much loved 747 (which was sadly retired in 2020).

As Qantas explains, “With the introduction of the Jumbo and other bigger jets such as the Douglas DC-10 and Lockheed L-1011 TriStar, supersonic travel slipped off the agenda for American aircraft manufacturers.”

“The focus was on reducing cost of travel through scale.”

“That left the… sky, open to the Europeans. Ultimately 20 Concordes were manufactured with British Airways and Air France each operating seven with the others remaining as test aircraft.”

“And for Qantas? Well, we did end up with our own supersonic aircraft – a scale model of the Boeing SST – which is a very popular item in our heritage collection.”

Things never went further than that though.

It’s not all lost opportunity though: the advances in non-supersonic planes have cut the flying time between Australia and the rest of the world significantly over the years anyway, and greater fuel capacities – and efficiencies – have seen ever more direct routes become possible, shaving off time thanks to the reduced number of stops.

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The post The Historic Qantas Jet ‘That Never Was’ appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

Australia punches above its weight in so many different areas: coffee culture, cool neighbourhoods, luxury watch-related political scandals…

Another field in which we’ve built up a reputation for excellence is in alcohol production (perhaps an unsurprising field of expertise for a nation that’s internationally renowned for our love of booze). Australia has long been respected as a wine producer, but Australian spirits have also begun to garner international recognition – with Australian gin racing ahead of the pack.

Indeed, at the 2020 International Wine and Spirits Awards, a whopping nine Australian gins were awarded gold, with two gins from Kangaroo Island Distillery leading the pack. Other Australian gin brands like Four Pillars, Melbourne Gin Company, Archie Rose and Seppeltsfield Road Distillers are internationally renowned as being top-shelf gins, enjoying a profile that eclipses that of other spirits (although it must be said, we’re pretty good at making whisky, too).

This explosion in craft gin expertise perhaps reflects our changing tastes – according to data from Roy Morgan’s 2019 Alcohol Consumption Report, the proportion of Australians drinking spirits is increasing, but all other alcohol types are declining, with gin and vodka the main drivers behind this increase in popularity. Gin has experienced the largest growth, rising from 7.4% to 9.0% of Australians consuming the drink in an average four-week period.

It’s truly a renaissance, and Australia’s fast becoming one of the world’s best gin countries, much to the surprise of many.

“Fifteen years ago, we wouldn’t even be discussing this,” Chris Cameron, founder of Melbourne-based craft gin distillery Naught tells DMARGE. Cameron, who has a background in professional basketball, has joined the growing ranks of Australian independent gin distilleries making a name for themselves at home and abroad.

After trying his hand at making beer and vodka, Cameron finally settled on gin – a spirit he reckons allows distillers’ creativity to shine.

“I’ve always enjoyed drinking gin, and wanted to discover more about how it’s made. With other drinks, you can be quite limited, but with gin… The world’s your oyster.”

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A post shared by Naught Gin (@naughtgin) on Sep 17, 2020 at 7:05pm PDT

Cameron suggests the reason Australia’s become such a gin hotspot is thanks to the quality of our produce, as well as our unique native botanicals that can’t be found anywhere else on earth.

That said: one must be careful to use them sparingly.

“Native botanicals tend to be quite punchy, so you need to be careful that you don’t overpower the gin… [their] aroma is fantastic.”

Another reason Australians are turning more and more towards gin is thanks to the corporate responsibility of the country’s gin distilleries. As the COVID-19 crisis started to affect Australia, gin distilleries around the country regeared production remarkably quickly to making hand sanitisers and other health supplies.

Not only has this kept these businesses afloat during what’s been a shocking year, but it’s done much to engender goodwill with the Australian public.

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A post shared by Sneaky Possum (@sneakypossumbar) on Oct 20, 2020 at 11:18pm PDT

“Because gin starts with a neutral spirit, it meant that distilleries had the ability to quickly change,” Cameron relates. He hopes that beyond 2020, Aussies will return to ‘supporting their local’ when it comes not only to gin, but all sorts of products.

It’s a trend that’s starting to see some growth, particularly in the hospitality space: local restaurants and bars have seen a “remarkable recovery” as Australians have taken up the very European trend of ‘lazy lunching‘ as restrictions have eased across the country.

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The post Australian Gin: How Australian Gin Production Is Thriving appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

There is a widespread complaint about Sydney: its houses are too expensive.

Meanwhile, Sydney's median income isn't that much higher than other major global cities (in various cases it's actually lower).

Yet harbour-city dwellers continue to pick up massive mortgages in order to be in the thick of the action (or in a desirable suburb).

Studies have shown Sydney is not only the most unaffordable market to enter in Australia but "more expensive than New York, London, and Singapore."

It's getting worse too: a 2019 Yahoo Finance report suggested median income households in Sydney needed at least three years’ more income to afford a median-priced home than they would have in 2004 (even after a significant property downturn in 2018).

Enter: a recent photo, taken by James Whelan, an Investment Manager at VFS Group in Sydney, whom DMARGE has previously spoken to about investing.

$2m first bid. 2.1 straight after pic.twitter.com/g753Nq0Fts

— James Whelan (@jameswhelan42) October 24, 2020

Today DMARGE spoke to Whelan in his capacity as a weekend jogger, however, after he posted an image of a property auction on his Saturday afternoon run.

"$2m first bid. 2.1 straight after," Whelan captioned the post.

"I kept jogging. There was more bidding. If it all goes tits up on the market I can flog my pile for a few dinaris."

Other Twitter users responded with classic comments like, "lol Sydney is farked" and "madness."

However, there is also an argument that Sydney's insane housing prices are worth their weight in mortgages.

In response to the comment: "Stupid. Drive 45 minutes north and you can literally buy 750 acres for less," Whelan wrote, "Yeah I tried living a few minutes north it was unbearable."

AND THE REST!! What a great city!! pic.twitter.com/p96R5mStEF

— James Whelan (@jameswhelan42) October 25, 2020

Whelan elaborated to DMARGE: "I learnt a lot about sales on that trip. My wife drove me up north a few suburbs and said 'look! Only 6 minutes further from town!' So I bought this nice place that was bigger and spent the next 2 years on a bus stuck in traffic getting home."

"It would add 30 minutes to the commute, which was fine when I was studying (because I’d tear through notes on the bus), but not fine with 2 little ones at home and a wife who needed me there."

"There wasn’t the sense of the village either. No school community to speak of, minimal charity (which is a big deal for me). No real dad’s group to talk to either. These things I started and we had on the lower north shore but not on the beaches. Eldest was miserable at preschool. The kids weren’t friendly and the boy/girl ratio was ~80%."

"I’d been sold on 6 minutes more on a quiet Sunday morning but I’d bought much more than that."

In light of insights like this, as well as the remarkable resilience seen (so far) of Sydney property prices even after the dire predictions that came out of Covid, the question: "will Sydney's housing bubble ever pop?" seems more valid than ever.

RELATED: The 'Tasty' Sign An Australian Suburb Is Set To Boom

Gavin Rubinstein, one of the Eastern Suburbs' leading estate agents told DMARGE the Sydney property market is underpinned by real value: "Sydney is the greatest city in the world. There is no land left in the Eastern suburbs and demand is growing daily."

"We are surrounded by water and the lifestyle is second to none. There will be peaks, there will be troughs but ultimately as precedence has shown, the market around here only goes one way and that is up."

Does Rubinstein have a vested interest in saying that? Absolutely. Is he wrong? We're yet to hear a convincing argument to the contrary (that said: there are certainly 'safer bet' suburbs than others, and Rubinstein was speaking specifically about the Eastern ones).

It seems savvy buyers really are taking this so-called golden window of opportunity to get their mitts on a house.

According to Budget Direct, Australia's median gross household annual income is currently $88,4525, with national median house prices across Australia's capital cities sitting at $637,701, making "the median house price 7.2 times the current median gross household income."

Looks like we'd better get saving.

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The post Jogger Justifies Sydney ‘Property Bubble’ In One Simple Image appeared first on DMARGE.

Rolex is the world’s most famous watch brand, and their luxury timepieces enjoy an incredibly dedicated following. Something that Rolex fans have become famous for is their sometimes oddball monikers for different watches. The Day-Date gets called the ‘President‘. The Cosmograph Daytona ref. 6264 gets called the ‘John Player Special‘, and the Submariner ref. 116610LV has the nickname ‘Hulk‘.

But the Rolex model that attracts perhaps the strangest nicknames is their GMT-Master line. Launched in 1954 and designed in collaboration with the now-defunct Pan American Airways, the GMT-Master was a mechanical marvel and invaluable tool for Pan Am’s globetrotting pilots. Its four hands and rotating bezel allowed pilots to make quick timezone calculations and adjust the time on their watch without affecting the time ‘back home’. On top of that, it looked incredibly slick.

These days, the GMT-Master is less prized as a tool watch and more as a flashy accessory, thanks to its wide range of brightly-coloured bezels. It’s these different colourways that are the focus of the model’s nicknames, which span the breadth of popular culture.

The GMT-Master was first produced with a half blue, half red bezel, a reference to Pan Am’s livery. It was originally nicknamed the ‘Pussy Galore’ after the James Bond character who wore it in 1964’s Goldfinger, but it’s since been dubbed the ‘Pepsi’, as the colours more closely resemble the branding of the popular cola. Other GMT-Master nicknames include the ‘Batman’ (black/blue), ‘Root Beer’ (brown/gold) and the ‘Fat Lady’ (what the GMT-Master II was first called, thanks to its thicker case size).

But just as ‘Pepsi’ stuck instead of ‘Pussy Galore’, the name that got attached to the GMT-Master II’s original colourway was the ‘Coke’. From 1983 until 1988, the GMT-Master II was produced exclusively in stainless steel with a black and red bezel, and it’s this bezel that inspired the ‘Coke’ name – as well as the obvious comparison with ‘Pepsi’, Coke’s biggest rival. Here’s where we get to the point: while Coca-Cola might trump PepsiCo when it comes to the drinks game, the ‘Pepsi’ beats ‘Coke’ when it comes to Rolexes – and that’s reflected in the aftermarket.

On respected online watch aftermarket Bob’s Watches, which specialises in Rolexes, you can pick up a ‘Coke‘ for just under 10,000 USD – about as much as you’d pay at retail for a GMT-Master II (although as we’ve discussed before, buying desirable Rolex models at RRP is often an exercise in futility). Compare that to their prices for ‘Pepsi‘ references – which average closer to the 18,000 USD mark.

It’s a confusing trend, seeing as the ‘Coke’ is arguably more versatile for day-to-day wear than the less subtle ‘Pepsi’. You’d think if anything that the strength of the Coca-Cola association would also elevate ‘Coke’ prices, but not so.

Much of it has to do with notoriety. The reality is that the GMT-Master ‘Pepsi’ is one of the most popular; most ‘hyped’ watches of all time. It’s the horological equivalent of a Supreme ‘box logo’ hoodie or a pair of rare Nike Air Jordans (never mind the fact that Jordan’s Chicago Bulls are the ones with the black and red team colours…)

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The post Rolex Pepsi Vs Coke: Aftermarket Trend Renews Age-Old American Rivalry appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

American-Canadian actor, producer, businessman and retired professional wrestler The Rock just took gym motivation to a whole new level.

Taking to Instagram this morning (late yesterday evening for Americans), The Rock showed followers an injury sustained by working out like a man possessed.

“We ain’t reciting nursery rhymes. It’s called the #ironparadise for a reason and things get extremely intense,” The Rock captioned the video.

“We ain’t playin’ tiddlywinks.”

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A post shared by therock (@therock) on Oct 26, 2020 at 1:00pm PDT

“Threw around my 50lb chains for a drop set – I got lumped up and need stitches.”

“Taste your blood, keep training and stitch up later – rules of the house.”

“And I can confirm my blood tastes like Teremana, calluses and BlaMoan (black and samoan) Hot Sauce.”

“Have a productive week, my friends – keep it light and a lil’ fun, but get after it like a MF.”

The rant inspired others, with one user writing, “I’m literally putting that quote at the studio door.”

In a world where many can be seen snapchatting between sets, The Rock’s advice is more relevant than ever.

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A post shared by therock (@therock) on Sep 22, 2020 at 8:07am PDT

It also fits in with the training philosophy of David Goggins who, speaking to Joe Rogan last year, dropped various ‘tough love’ insights many can learn from too.

“The greater the suffering the greater the peace,” Goggins told Rogan.

“A lot of men like to put the headphones and listen to music… but what if that shit comes off?

“What’s that flame inside of you that keeps you going? Let that keep you going. Not this.”

Goggins also wrote on Instagram, “If you want to measure yourself against someone, make sure it is a person who is waking up early and going to bed late… We fill our heads full of bullshit on what hard work looks like… [but] the truth of the matter is that hard work does not look pretty, the effort behind it is sometimes mind-numbing.”

RELATED: Joe Rogan Reveals Extreme Level Of Dedication You Need For Serious Gains

“Sometimes you need to just look at yourself when you are trying your hardest but still not succeeding and simply suck it… up and say I still haven’t done enough. So when is it enough? Only you have the answer to that. What is ‘it’ worth to you?”

We’ll lift to that.

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The post Brutal Video Reveals Extreme Level Of Commitment Demanded At The Rock's Gym appeared first on DMARGE Australia.