People

From leg irons to tap dancing

David Watson, 83, took up tap dancing in his 40s, and has danced ever since.

He took up it up by chance, after accompanying a friend from work to a dance class in Melbourne.

The ex-architecture lecturer recalled the very first lesson on a "lousy" floor located above a porn shop in Swanston Street.

"I used to have to hide my face as I walked in," Mr Watson laughed.

This week his food and wind-themed exhibition opens in Cheltenham in Melbourne.

"Not wind made by the food, but musical instruments," he said.

The 82-year-old recalled his first encounter with art while sitting in a highchair and using baby food to paint the walls.

"My mother who was an intelligent young mother realised that there was some art there," he said.

"She encouraged me to mix spinach with this farex just to put a bit of texture and colour with it and I've sort of being going on the same sort of way ever since."

Artist Mario Munkara points out the different design elements of the printed ceremonial pukumani burial poles, representing various styles of body painting and scarification used during funeral ceremonies.

"They used to have the scars around their chests, and the ladies used to have it on their breasts and shoulder," he says.

"Pukumani pole is traditional way for us when we carve, to think about our sorrow and the person who passed away."

She was, it turned out, a 3,500-year-old Egyptian princess, her mummified skin leathery brown, her coffin over 10 feet long and lavishly carved.

But when researchers slid Princess Ahmose Meryet-Amon’s body into a CT scanner, they found, at least in one respect, she was not so different from some 92 million un-royal Americans: Her arteries were hardened and blocked by plaque. The researchers also examined the shriveled blood vessels of over 100 other mummies from Egypt, Peru, the American Southwest, and the Aleutian Islands — and found similar signs of cardiovascular disease.

If you cannot adapt, you either move to a more suitable environment or you lose the battle of survival.

In PNG where weather can be unpredictable at times, it has become a game of nature versus man

And like many who live near a river, when raining season is on, the people of Laloki along the Hiritano highway, Central Province have to be on alert. Because, any time now, it may flood!

The last couple of days has been good on Port Moresby.

However, the continuous rain has put those residing along the riverside on the downside.

But at the age of 28, he slowly found himself struggling to walk up stairs and get out of low furniture.

He was diagnosed with a degenerative neuromuscular condition called inclusion body myositis.

The disease causes Mr Grant's muscles to waste away to the point that he may one day struggle to breathe and swallow.

"To a degree there was a loss of identity," he said.

"I used to love riding motorbikes, sailing and working on cars and bushwalking and doing active things.

A report suggests that more than two hours of social media use a day doubled the chances of a person experiencing social isolation.

It claims exposure to idealised representations of other people's lives may cause feelings of envy.

The study also looked at those using Instagram, Snapchat and Tumblr.

It's important to remember what you see on social isn't necessarily the reason for you feeling bad - but it might be a factor.

Put simply, it might just heighten the emotions you're already feeling.

But why should February 14 be off-limits to those who aren't in the thralls of romantic bliss?

We all have people in our lives we are fond of and value greatly. While those connections are not romantic — a thoughtful colleague, a beloved pet — nobody can deny that these relationships are equally as important and worth acknowledging.

So this Valentine's Day, let's expand our definition of love to include all of those special people in our lives.

Your local barista

They have the same chocolate coloured hair, they share dark, almond-shaped eyes and have a similar impish smile. 

Since birth their family, friends and teachers have mixed them up. When their high school prom dates came to their house in a small town in east Texas, the two boys could not tell which twin they were there to collect.

Today is your day.

December 10 is observed every year as the international Human Rights Day.

It commemorates the day on which, in 1948, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

In 1950, the Assembly passed resolution 423 (V), inviting all States and interested organizations to observe December 10 each year as Human Rights Day.

This year, Human Rights Day calls on everyone to stand up for someone's rights!