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See the shrines to Harry Potter, the Avengers and Disney in a single home

<p dir="ltr">Fans of <em>Harry Potter</em>, Marvel’s <em>Avengers</em>, and Disney’s <em>Beauty and the Beast</em> might not find much to agree on usually, but <a href="https://www.domain.com.au/news/this-florida-home-has-a-shrine-to-harry-potter-in-its-basement-1118276/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">one house</a> in Florida is sure to make them all happy - if they have $8.23 million to spend.</p><p dir="ltr">Though it might appear to be a standard albeit large home with modern stylings at first glance, the two-storey home in Reunion, Florida contains homages to all three film franchises.</p><p dir="ltr">The lower level boasts an impressive dedication to the magical <em>Harry Potter</em> films - accessed by a rotating brick wall that reads “Platform 9¾” of course - with a full-size replica of the Hogwarts Express steam train that also contains a sleep carriage with two single beds.</p><p dir="ltr">Not only is there a full-size train, but the space also contains full-size recreations of Harry Potter, Dobby the House Elf and the Whomping Willow tree.</p><p dir="ltr">To finish it off, the area is completed by a train-themed bathroom with two frosted showers with quotes from the fictional character Albus Dumbledore.</p><p dir="ltr">As for <em>Avengers </em>fans, the home’s first-floor games room is the place to be. Arcade games lining one wall, a giant superhero mural covering another, and the fictitious group’s “A” logo on a third wall, while Avengers office chairs, a foosball table and an Avengers air hockey table fill the centre.</p><p dir="ltr">Elsewhere in the spacious home, there is a children’s bedroom styled to look like Belle’s room from <em>Beauty and the Beast</em>, complete with an appropriately-themed bathroom.</p><p dir="ltr">The rest of the eight-bedroom, 11-bathroom home features a sleek and modern design and a colour scheme of varying shades of whites, greys, and blues.</p><p dir="ltr">Other luxe features include the huge home theatre, swimming pool and spa, home gym, wet bar, rooftop terrace and an alfresco area with views of the private golf course.</p><p dir="ltr">Despite the sky-high price, as of publication an offer appears to have been made on the home, with the <a href="https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/7844-Palmilla-Ct-Reunion-FL-34747/130960969_zpid/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Zillow listing</a> showing the property’s status as pending.</p><p dir="ltr"><em>Images: Zillow</em></p>

Real Estate

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Quirky items that fetched millions at auction

<p>They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and that certainly rings true for people who have spent tonnes of cash on some really odd things. Here, we round up the weirdest, and a few of the coolest, things people have paid big money for. Have a look and see if you would have done the same!</p> <p><img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7837652/01-art-basel-miami-usa-05-dec-2019-770.jpg" alt="A banana duct-taped to a wall" data-udi="umb://media/6062a14a239c4842b72dc1dec910f3f8" /></p> <ol> <li><strong> A banana duct-taped to a wall</strong></li> </ol> <p>It’s hard to say what is art anymore. One may think of the <em>Mona Lisa</em>, while another might value, say, a banana duct-taped to a wall. We’re not being cute. That is literally what someone bought at the Art Basel art fair in Miami recently.</p> <p>Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan’s controversial piece, titled <em>Comedian</em>, sold for a whopping $120,000. The point of the piece, said the gallerist who sold the pricey fruit, was to question what “art” is. Looks like someone found the piece rather a-peeling, after all.</p> <p><img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7837651/02-violin-played-as-titanic-sank-sells-for-900000-wiltshire-britain-20-oct-2013-770.jpg" alt="The last violin played on the Titanic" data-udi="umb://media/5b3a386ddaa14a29804c079b3c90a397" /></p> <ol start="2"> <li><strong> The last violin played on the <em>Titanic</em></strong></li> </ol> <p>One of the most memorable tales from the tragic sinking of the Titanic is the eight-piece band that played until the end. Led by English musician Wallace Hartley, the band played their instruments as the ship sank into the frozen waters of the Atlantic Ocean in an effort to help soothe scared passengers.</p> <p>According to CNN, “Hartley’s body was reportedly pulled from the water days after the April 1912 sinking with his violin case still strapped to his back.”</p> <p>More than a century later, in 2013, Hartley’s damaged violin was sold at an auction for $1.7 million in less than 10 minutes. It is the most expensive artefact linked to the doomed ship.</p> <p><img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7837653/04-john-lennon-shutterstock-524008o-e1578497425466-770.jpg" alt="John Lennon’s toilet" data-udi="umb://media/2cdaff7d7bfa4c66bf34c5341a391711" /></p> <ol start="3"> <li><strong> John Lennon’s toilet</strong></li> </ol> <p>Imagine all the ways you can spend your money…and then think about this. One Beatles fan spent nearly $15,000 on a flowered porcelain toilet once owned by John Lennon.</p> <p>The luxe loo came from an English estate owned by Lennon and Yoko Ono. When Lennon had the toilet replaced, he told the builders “to put some flowers in it or something,” according to the auction catalogue.</p> <p>The estate, Tittenhurst Park, was where Lennon recorded his legendary <em>Imagine</em> album and film. Hopefully, the toilet was as inspiring to its new owner!</p> <p><img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7837654/05-queen-victorias-undies-7039790b-770.jpg" alt="Queen Victoria’s undies" data-udi="umb://media/a3bba379744946149c046f6fb712e919" /></p> <ol start="4"> <li><strong> Queen Victoria’s undies</strong></li> </ol> <p>And speaking of bathroom inspiration, cotton knickers owned by Queen Victoria (Queen Elizabeth’s great-great-grandmother) sold in 2015 for $16,300.</p> <p>Embroidered with her royal initials, “VR” for Victoria Regina, the undies were in pristine shape, having been wrapped in tissue and kept in a temperature-controlled room.</p> <p>There was something unique about these roomy drawers, which boasted a 114cm drawstring waist.</p> <p>“On these particular knickers, there is a chevron section, which is where they were taken up slightly as Queen Victoria got older and essentially she shrunk in stature,” auctioneer Richard Edmonds told People.com.</p> <p>“That element got the collectors really excited, because you can then date them quite specifically to the last 10 years of her life.”</p> <p><img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7837655/06-elvis-presleys-hair-music-icons-auction-by-juliens-los-angeles-america-22-jun-2012-770.jpg" alt="A lock of Elvis Presley’s hair" data-udi="umb://media/e50824ffb48c4fb6af997aa80226b918" /></p> <ol start="5"> <li><strong> A lock of Elvis Presley’s hair</strong></li> </ol> <p>A hunka, chunka hair from the King of Rock and Roll, Elvis Presley, sold for $115,000 to an eager fan back in 2002.</p> <p>Saved from his barber, who also used to dye his sandy-blonde hair jet black, the trimmings had been kept in a plastic bag since the singer’s death in 1977, until they were sold for a king’s ransom.</p> <p>Other big-ticket Elvis items that sold at auction include his 24-carat gold-leaf grand piano; his peacock jumpsuit; and one of his very first recordings of a song called “My Happiness,” which was bought by White Stripes musician Jack White.</p> <p><img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7837656/07-white-dress-worn-by-marilyn-monroe-in-film-the-seven-year-itch-sells-for-4-6million-los-angeles-america-jun-2011-770.jpg" alt="Marilyn Monroe’s white dress" data-udi="umb://media/501546eb4f3c468a94cb5d294bfe098e" /></p> <ol start="6"> <li><strong> Marilyn Monroe’s white dress</strong></li> </ol> <p>It was the dress that launched a thousand gasps. Marilyn Monroe’s iconic white halter dress, which she wore in <em>The Seven Year Itch</em>, sold in 2011 for a whopping $4.6 million.</p> <p>The dress – which was famously blown up while she stood over a subway grate – made Monroe a certified sex symbol. It also made actress Debbie Reynolds some major bucks when she sold it.</p> <p>Reynolds, the iconic star of <em>Singing in the Rain</em> (and also Carrie Fisher’s mum), was a huge collector of vintage Hollywood gowns, and Marilyn’s made her a pretty penny.</p> <p><img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7837657/08-songwriters-hall-of-fame-annual-induction-and-awards-gala-arrivals-marriott-marquis-hotel-new-york-usa-13-jun-2019-770.jpg" alt="Justin Timberlake’s leftover French toast" data-udi="umb://media/44029608333c496b9ac50a08bcd82f73" /></p> <ol start="7"> <li><strong> Justin Timberlake’s leftover French toast</strong></li> </ol> <p>Twenty years ago, a young band member from NSYNC, Justin Timberlake, was interviewed by the Z100 morning show in New York City when he left some of his uneaten French toast behind. The station’s DJ jokingly put two slices of it for sale on eBay, where it was sold to a teenage girl named Kathy Summers for $1,025.</p> <p>When asked what she would do with the leftover and slightly burned toast, the teen fan said, “I’ll probably freeze-dry it, then seal it…then put it on my dresser.”</p> <p>Mmmm… a wise investment, indeed.</p> <p><img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7837658/09-damien-hirst-exhibition-tate-modern-london-britain-02-apr-2012-770.jpg" alt="A dead shark in formaldehyde" data-udi="umb://media/92f6a7d11ab04a1691ee03df6da5a728" /></p> <ol start="8"> <li><strong> A dead shark in formaldehyde</strong></li> </ol> <p>Weird art always seems to sell well and big. (See item one on this list.) But a piece by British contemporary artist Damien Hirst really takes the shark.</p> <p>Hirst is known for his obsession with death, seen in his high-priced and macabre styles of art. In 2004, he sold a tiger shark preserved in formaldehyde, titled <em>The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living</em>, for a reported $8 million.</p> <p>The 22-tonne shark, which is obviously dead but kept scarily preserved, embodies life, death and just what its title aptly describes.</p> <p> <img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7837662/01-albert-einstein-gettyimages-544750041-o60.jpg" alt="Albert Einstein’s theory on happiness" data-udi="umb://media/b55dbd43f1d4478fb402c48e324e1077" /></p> <ol start="9"> <li><strong> Albert Einstein’s theory on happiness</strong></li> </ol> <p>A Japanese bellboy received the tip of a lifetime when he made a delivery to physicist Albert Einstein in 1922.</p> <p>Einstein was in Tokyo on a book tour when he found out he’d won the Nobel Prize. Overwhelmed by the honour and attention, Einstein put some of his thoughts to paper, which he gave the bellboy when he couldn’t find change for a tip.</p> <p>“A calm and modest life brings more happiness than the pursuit of success combined with constant restlessness,” Einstein wrote in German on a piece of hotel stationery, according to the <em>New York Times</em>.</p> <p>On the second paper, he wrote, “Where there’s a will, there’s a way.”</p> <p>The two papers, his take on happiness, sold at a 2017 auction in Israel for $1.56 million and $250,000, respectively.</p> <p><img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7837659/11-auction-jeff-koons-new-york-usa-03-may-2019-770.jpg" alt="A giant steel rabbit" data-udi="umb://media/7d20e9bfc8a74e468e1fe1ddff23e3fc" /></p> <ol start="10"> <li><strong> A giant steel rabbit</strong></li> </ol> <p>And we’re back with some really expensive art. A 90cm stainless steel rabbit created by the artist Jeff Koons in 1986 sold at auction in 2019 for the breathtaking price of $91 million.</p> <p>It went to Robert E. Mnuchin, an art dealer and the father of US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, and it set the world-record price for a work by a living artist.</p> <p>The rabbit is considered one of the most iconic works of art of the 20th century, and a blow-up version of it appeared in the Macy’s Day parade in 2007.</p> <p>The work has influenced generations of artists, even the aforementioned Damien Hirst. And on a funny side note, when Koons was deciding on what animal to sculpt a likeness of, he almost chose a pig. It seems like the bunny paid off.</p> <p><img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7837660/12-truman-capote-shutterstock-6651421a-770.jpg" alt="Truman Capote’s ashes" data-udi="umb://media/ea15b52150ef4978b69cc65f0e3e97af" /></p> <ol start="9"> <li><strong> Truman Capote’s ashes</strong></li> </ol> <p>The author of <em>Breakfast at Tiffany’s</em> and <em>In Cold Blood</em> certainly did love an adventure, and so maybe it’s not that big of a surprise that his ashes continue to have a life of their own.</p> <p>Housed in a Japanese wooden box, the writer’s remains belonged to Capote’s longtime friend Joanne Carson – ex-wife of the famed late-night talk-show host Johnny Carson – until her death in 2015. (Capote died in 1984.)</p> <p>The ashes have had quite a ride, having been stolen once before and luckily returned, until they were finally sold for $45,000 in 2016, to an anonymous buyer who promised: “that Truman will continue his adventures.”</p> <p><img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7837661/13-leonardo-s-exhibit-new-york-usa-770.jpg" alt="Leonardo da Vinci’s Codex Leicester" data-udi="umb://media/a999ec5f51ae449d9028a43ffcd4c3fa" /></p> <ol start="10"> <li><strong> Leonardo da Vinci’s Codex Leicester</strong></li> </ol> <p>While most people associate Leonardo da Vinci with his paintings, like <em>The Mona Lisa</em> and <em>The Last Supper</em>, da Vinci was also a scientist and engineer whose notes about inventions and thoughts on the planet (its origin and end) were captured in a journal titled the “Codex Leicester.”</p> <p>In 1994, Bill Gates purchased the journal for $30.8 million at auction, a price that made it one of the most expensive books ever sold.</p> <p>Da Vinci’s ideas and musings in the Codex are written in his famous mirrored cursive writing, and it’s currently on loan to museums and schools across the United States.</p> <p><strong>Images:</strong> Shutterstock / Getty Images</p> <p><em>Written by Robyn Moreno. This article first appeared on <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.readersdigest.co.nz/culture/13-quirkiest-items-that-sold-for-millions-at-auctions" target="_blank">Reader’s Digest</a>. For more of what you love from the world’s best-loved magazine, <a rel="noopener" href="http://readersdigest.co.nz/subscribe" target="_blank">here’s our best subscription.</a></em></p>

Money & Banking

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Quirky food traditions from around the world

<p>In Australia we are lucky to not only have a wonderful variety and quality of all types of foods, we also have an eclectic mix of cultural traditions and influences on our cooking from around the globe. While we know that there is great diversity in these influences, experiencing those cultures at their source can sometimes uncover some extreme examples in what people eat and how they eat it.</p> <p><strong>Be careful with your manners!</strong><br />Depending on what county you are in you sometimes need to be quite careful in what you do at the dinner table. In Thailand, for example, using a fork to pick up food is considered somewhat crude. They use the fork to push food onto a spoon instead. Maybe a case of lost in translation?</p> <p>While we may frown on slurping, the Japanese consider it quite acceptable when eating noodles and soup, due to the way it enhances flavour.</p> <p>In the Middle East and India, the custom is to only use the right hand for eating food. The left is used for more mundane tasks (to put it nicely). In China sticking your chopsticks upright in your rice bowl is a big no no, as is waving your chopsticks at another person or leaving it on the table pointing at a fellow diner. Tapping your bowl with them is also taboo.</p> <p><strong>Freaky food festivals</strong> <br />La Tomatina is an annual festival in the town of Bunol in Spain, where massive crowds gather to celebrate the ubiquitous red fruit by tossing over one hundred tons at each other in a massive food fight. It may sound crazy, but it has become such a tourist magnet that they have had to limit access and ticket the event in order to control the numbers. Fortunately, there are also more productive aspects to the festival, such as the famed paella cooking contest.</p> <p>The Gilroy Garlic Festival in the USA attracts over 100,000 visitors, who chomp through two and a half tons of garlic. The festival features cooking demonstrations, cook-offs and lectures to promote the health benefits and innovative ways of using the precious bulb. This includes delicacies such as garlic ice cream and soft drinks, as well as more traditional cooking applications.</p> <p>In what seems like an odd combination, Waikiki is home to a Spam festival that attracts over 20,000 devotees of the processed spiced meat. Creative uses of this sometimes-maligned product are on show, as well as other cultural activities that have been inspired by Spam, such as Spam dancers and Spam theatre productions. The origins of the festival can be traced back to WWII when fresh meat was scarce in Hawaii and Spam was used as a substitute. The locals have maintained their love for it ever since.</p> <p>Tunarama in Port Lincoln, South Australia has a 50 year history of celebrating that town’s prolific fishing industry. It has the largest fishing fleet in the country and they certainly know how to throw a party . . . and a tuna, thanks to the signature event – the tuna toss competition.</p> <p><strong>Flamboyant food foibles</strong> <br />Japan is home to many weird and wonderful cusspam festival toms, not least of which is the eating of a seafood delicacy known as the fugu fish. Its claim to fame is its high toxicity, which requires meticulous preparation to remove the offending parts where the poison is concentrated. Apparently a small amount of the poison actually adds to the enjoyment, but too much can be lethal.</p> <p>Haggis is not so lethal, but can be best described as an acquired taste. It’s the national dish of Scotland and comprises chopped up sheep’s offal, such as heart, liver and lungs, mixed with onion, spices and oatmeal. This is packed into a sheep's stomach and boiled. Haggis is traditionally eaten with a stiff scotch on the side – presumably to give the diner some Dutch courage to face it!</p> <p>Contrary to its name, head cheese is not made from dairy products at all. This ancient European dish is actually made from the head of a sheep slow braised to tenderise the meat, which is then removed, chopped and put back in the cooking liquid. Once it cools, the marrow, which has been extracted in the cooking process, solidifies like gelatine so the end product can be conveniently sliced for salad or sandwiches.</p> <p>Back home in Australian we have our own gastronomic oddities in a wide range of bush foods. While these delicacies exist all around us, it is only in recent times that the general public has come to appreciate them in the same ways as our country’s first inhabitants do. Fruits such as quandong, Davidson's plum and finger lime are now receiving recognition from top chefs, while lemon myrtle, mountain pepper and warrigal greens are also emerging on menus. The macadamia nut is a great example of how such bush foods can eventually become mainstream.</p> <p><em>Written by Tom Raeside. Republished with permission of <a href="https://www.wyza.com.au/articles/lifestyle/food-and-wine/quirky-food-traditions.aspx">Wyza.com.au.</a></em></p>

Food & Wine

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What you can learn from Einstein’s quirky habits

<p class="Body">When it comes to the geniuses of history, Albert Einstein is one of the greatest minds of our time. So when it comes to learning a thing or two from someone’s way of life, who better to look to than Einstein himself.</p> <p class="Body"><strong>1. Get 10 hours of sleep a night</strong></p> <p class="Body">Yes, you did read that right - a whole 10 hours. Einstein reportedly got 10 hours sleep a day, which is a little more than most people average. But it looks like he was onto something. It is said that many of history’s great achievements, including the periodic table, the structure of DNA and Einstein’s theory of special relativity, were thought of while people were getting some shut-eye. Einstein theory on special relativity came to him while he was dreaming.</p> <p class="Body"><strong>2. Go for daily walks</strong></p> <p class="Body">When the genius was working at Princeton University he would walk the nearly 2.5km there and back. This walking time was said to be sacred to him. Not just for fitness, there’s evidence to suggest that walking can boost memory, creativity and problem-solving. Have you ever found that a great idea has come to you while you’ve been out on a walk?</p> <p class="Body"><strong>3. Eat spaghetti</strong></p> <p class="Body">Pasta lovers can rejoice at this one! While this one hasn't been verified by official sources, on a quick internet search you will find that it’s suggested that Einstein’s beautiful mind was fuelled by pasta. The truth in the spaghetti matter may just have legs, too, as carbohydrates are a great way to feed our energy-hungry brains - they consume 20 per cent of the body’s energy although only accounting for two per cent of our weight. To keep it in moderation, though, it’s recommended that you about 25g of carbohydrates per meal is good for you and double that can impair your thinking.</p> <p class="Body"><strong>4. Smoke a pipe</strong></p> <p class="Body">We don't actually recommend you do this one at home. But it’s a nice thought to imagine Einstein with his pipe in his mouth coming up with some of the greatest discoveries of our time. Today we know the many health risks associated with smoking and that it’s not a health habit to form. However, Einstein was a pipe smoker - so much so that he was known around the university for the cloud of smoke that would follow him. He loved to smoke, believing it “contributes to a somewhat calm and objective judgment in all human affairs.”</p> <p class="Body"><strong>5. Don't wear socks</strong></p> <p class="Body">As far as idiosyncrasies go, this one has to be one of our favourites. In a letter he wrote to his cousin and wife Elsa, he said: “When I was young, I found out that the big toe always ends up making a hole in a sock. So I stopped wearing socks”. Ah, isn't that a nice idea. Can you relate to it? After all don't you sometimes feel that you can’t think properly until you slip into something a little more comfortable? </p>

Mind