Calling all skinny housewives. Get on down to Myer at Charlestown Square. They'll look after you for all your ironing, cooking and dishwashing needs.
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And if you need a new apron, they'll sort you with one of those, too.
Dudley's Patti Davidson spotted this mannequin while shopping on Sunday.
"My mother, sister and I were shocked by Myer’s choice of display in the electrical department," she said.
"Apparently this has been in store for several weeks including International Women’s Day on March 8. Please note, as well as the ironing, she was also displaying cooking and dish-cleaning utensils and was not wearing shoes. We could not believe what we were seeing. It’s 2019 not 1920."
How can Myer rectify this? Hmmm. We reckon they should give all women a 30 per cent discount for a week or two. Also, they should put up some mannequins of blokes doing the ironing, cooking and cleaning. And leave them there permanently. It'll be a much-needed reminder to the male species to do their fair share of domestic duties.
Skin Deep
Measuring changes in the skin of people under noise stress can help pinpoint those at risk of anxiety and depression, research shows.
The research, done by University of Newcastle and Hunter Medical Research Institute, involved the use of "acoustic startle".
This is linked to the "startle response". That is, when humans and animals hear a loud noise or sense movement, they get scared and their unconscious mind goes on alert. Fight, flight or freeze kicks in. It's a survival mechanism.
“When we hear a sudden, loud sound – for example, a gunshot – we naturally respond with instant sweat, a spike in heart rate and disrupted breathing,” Associate Professor Eugene Nalivaiko said.
The stress response can be measured with a sensor attached to a fingertip. This detects the activity of sweat glands.
“If the same noxious sound is presented repeatedly, our stress response declines. We get used to the same stressor," the professor said.
“How fast we become accustomed to repeated presentations of the same stressor has a direct link to our level of resilience."
Those with high resilience adapt quickly and those with lower resilience do so more slowly or not at all.
Having worked with 30 participants, the researchers found they can "distinguish between high and low resilience in healthy individuals", pinpointing who may be susceptible to mental health issues later in life.
“These results will be of particular use to organisations such as Defence, to identify those who may need extra support or increased resilience training,” the professor said.
Down the track, the technique could be used in schools to identify young people who may be "particularly vulnerable to psychological stress, so we can ensure the best prevention measures are in place early in their development".
Cartoon Central
Yesterday, we mentioned The Jetsons and The Flintstones cartoons from the 1980s.
Toronto's John Carr said the two cartoons initially gained popularity in the 1960s on black and white television.
As a baby boomer, John watched television from its start in the late 1950s to the present.
Those days were a long way from the "screen-time worries of today", he said.
"My recollection was that The Flintstones were shown first and had a marvellous play on words. It was based on rock quarrying and dinosaurs," he said.
"Rather than items or machines run by electricity or petrol, they were run by animal or human power."
The Jetsons came later, possibly reflecting the emergence of Sputnik and rocket development, he said.
"The Bugs Bunny Show also had a space theme with a little man from Mars who wanted to blast the Earth out of orbit so he could improve his view from Mars into the solar system," he said.
Aside from The Jetsons and The Flintstones, we remember watching He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, Scooby-Doo, Josie and the Pussycats, Fat Albert, Fat Albert, Fat Albert, Huckleberry Hound, Hong Kong Phooey and Road Runner.