So wonderful to see her name on the board.

Question RnR?

I have gone back looking for a Thread to 5 years ago and cannot find the Movie Thread so I tried to start one again but I have been blocked.  Would you know where the movie Thread has gone to please?

Thinking a chat about the movies back when.... would be an idea with this lockdown.

Australian Min Woo Lee wins Scottish Open after three-way playoff.

Min Woo Lee, born 27 July 1998, is an Australian professional golfer who plays on the European Tour. He turned professional at the start of 2019 after a successful amateur career. Lee's older sister, Minjee Lee, is also a professional golfer. When Min Woo Lee won the 2016 U.S. Junior Amateur, they became the first brother/sister pair to win the USGA's junior championships, Minjee Lee having won the U.S. Girls' Junior in 2012.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-07-12/scottish-open-min-woo-lee/100285598

Congratulations to an Australian sportsperson I've never heard of before.

Lithgow's Lost City under threat.

The Lost City is about 14 kilometres from Lithgow's CBD and made up of striking rock pagodas that resemble a city skyline, as well as 300 hectares of endangered biodiverse swamps.

Centennial Coal has applied to re-open its dormant Angus Place coal mine as part of a proposal to expand its longwall mining operations.

Young Leo Williams is on the case.

Leo Williams may seem like a typical seven-year-old, but his environmental achievements have led him straight to Parliament House. He set up a lemonade stand to save the Lost City which has so far raised $747.05. After receiving an email from Ms Campbell, independent MP Justin Field invited the children for lunch at NSW Parliament House so they could mark their fundraising on the parliamentary record.

Full ABC story.

Former Wallaby player Quade Cooper denied Australian citizenship.

Former Wallabies star Quade Cooper says his application for Australian citizenship has been repeatedly knocked back despite playing 70 Tests for Australia.

Born in Auckland, Cooper moved to Australia with his family aged 13 and still holds New Zealand citizenship. He was deemed to have not provided evidence to satisfy special residency requirements which refer to "persons engaging in activities of benefit to Australia" and "persons engaged in particular kinds of work requiring regular travel outside of Australia".

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-07-14/quade-cooper-says-he-cant-get-australian-citizenship/100291426

Can't find the joke page or garden thread so here is a couple of laughs. Lighten up people, the Interesting topic was full of doom and gloom, so came here instead. Read this riddle and the following joke:

Riddle of the week
I am a fruit. If you take away my first letter, I am a crime. If you take away my first two letters, I am an animal. If you take away my first and last letter, I am a type of music. What am I?

Answer: a grape.

Joke:

An elderly man living alone wanted to plant his annual tomato garden, but it was difficult work since the ground was hard. His only son, Paul, who used to help him, was in prison. The old man wrote a letter to his son and described his predicament:

Dear Paul,
I am feeling pretty sad, because it looks like I won't be able to plant my tomato garden this year. I'm just getting too old to be digging up a garden plot. I know if you were here my troubles would be over because you would be happy to dig the plot for me, like in the old days.
Love, Dad.

A few days later he received a letter from his son.

Dear Dad,
Don’t dig up that garden. That’s where the bodies are buried.
Love, Paul.

At 4am the next morning, the police arrived and dug up the entire area without finding any bodies. They apologised to the old man and left. That same day the old man received another letter from his son.

Dear Dad,
Go ahead and plant the tomatoes now. That’s the best I could do under the circumstances.
Love, Paul.

And they are going to allow footballers from there to play here in Perth, crazy.

Melbourne is desperately hoping to avoid yet another outbreak that could prompt a fifth lockdown after Sydney's Delta plague spilled over the border. Three removalists from Sydney picked up furniture from a flat in Melbourne (pictured, bottom right) and dropped it of in Adelaide last week, while two were infected with coronavirus. Melbourne is as a result staring down the barrel of another wave of restrictions just as it relaxed measures form its last outbreak, and potentially a fifth lockdown. Premier Daniel Andrews (pictured, inset) could announce the changes as early as Thursday. 

John McInnis Auctioneers

While it sounds like the height of absurdity to say, one could never imagine how often it happens that paintings by art’s great masters are found in people’s attics.

In recent years, GNN has reported on a possible Da Vinci being found tucked away in a Scottish farmhouse. Then there was the case of a Fra Angelico Renaissance masterpiece being discovered in a modest house in the middle of England.

Now, a recent auction in Massachusetts featuring rare pieces of art collected from estates around the north-east has seen a previously unknown painting by Pablo Picasso being sold for $150,000.

Depicting Spanish well-to-dos attending the bull fighting arena, it is thought to be a preparatory sketch for a stage curtain as part of a 1919 Ballets Russes production (it’s still to be officially authenticated by the Picasso estate).

It was found tucked away with other paintings in the closet of a house belonging to a New England man’s recently deceased relative.

It would not be the first time a Picasso has turned up where one wouldn’t expect: A decade ago, GNN reported that hundreds of Picasso’s works, collected by a French electrician, had been received by a museum as a gift.

According to a statement by the anonymous seller on the auction house website, the Maine home in which the sketch work was found belonged to the man’s great aunt—she had studied in Europe, enjoyed bringing things back to the States, and generally lived an exciting life.

Then man came to own the house when his father inherited it after the great aunt passed away.

The 16×16 image on paper is believed to be a preliminary mock-up for the curtain that would act as the backdrop to Le Tricorne, which debuted at the Alhambra Theater in London after World War I.

The actual curtain which Picasso would later make is 20 feet by 19 feet, and is currently located in the New York Historical Society after spending 55 years on the wall in the Four Seasons restaurant. Picasso also designed the sets and the costumes for the play.

A Pennsylvania mom was scanning local shelter sites looking for a perfect companion for her two boys—but what she found took her breath away.

Among the adoptable pets was the face of the beloved dog she’d lost more than two years ago.

At first, Aisha Nieves wasn’t sure the pup was her missing pitbull-rottweiler mix Kuvo, but a closer look revealed a small facial scar that confirmed her suspicions.

Nieves first brought Kuvo (named for a character in Disney’s Lion King franchise) home in 2014, when he was seven weeks old. In May 2019, her fence was damaged by a careless driver and Kuvo escaped.

She was four months pregnant with her second son at the time. “I had a lot of emotions going through me,” Nieves told The Morning Call. “I was crying, thinking the worst, thinking somebody kidnapped or hurt him. I was just devastated. He was there for me through everything, heartbreaks, ups and downs… and now he was gone. It was so hard to accept.”

MORE: Chinese Monk Dedicates Life to Rescuing 8,000 Dogs – He Finds Them New Homes Around the World

It turns out that Kovu was found in someone’s yard several weeks later. He was brought to the Lehigh County Humane Society, where he was christened “Ash.” After receiving medical care, he was eventually adopted.

Due to changing circumstances, however, the family who’d adopted Kuvo was forced to return him to the shelter this past June. “Ash” was put up for adoption a second time.

As soon as she realized Ash was, in fact, Kuvo—an ecstatic Nieves immediately contacted LCHS. Bringing along proof of ownership and an adoption fee, she rushed to the shelter to reclaim her fur baby.

While Nieves was a bit concerned that Kuvo might not remember her after being separated for so long, she needn’t have worried.

“He was screaming, trying to get away from the guy holding him and run to me,” Nieves told TMC. “Then, he just jumped on me and we started kissing and hugging. He sat on my lap. I told him, ‘Yeah, buddy, you’re going home. I’m so sorry this happened. Never again am I losing you.’”

RELATED: Dog Thrown From Car in Accident Found Herding Sheep on Nearby Farm

When a beloved pet goes missing, it feels as if there’s a hole in your heart. Now that Kuvo is home, Nieves says her heart is whole again.

This coming Christmas, will mark Kuvo’s seventh birthday, but for Nieves, her Christmas gift came early this year—and she couldn’t be happier.

(WATCH the ABC video of the pair as they reunite below.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=77&v=4ixgn7W1DK8&feature=emb_title

Devastating flash-flooding spreading across Europe

Joel Pippard, Sunday July 18, 2021 - 18:12 EST

Over the past few days, catastrophic flooding has occurred in Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, and now Austria, killing hundreds of people as rivers rose to their highest levels in decades.

On Thursday, eastern parts of Belgium received up to 97mm of rain in a six-hour period, while Reifferscheid, Germany, collected a harrowing 203mm in just nine hours. On Saturday, Austria’s capital Vienna received 71mm in six hours and tens of thousands of lightning strikes, mainly occurring in a two-hour period. European media are widely referring to these floods as a 'once-in-a-generation' event.

Image: Radar and Lightning over Vienna on Saturday afternoon

During each event, around 70-100mm has fallen in as little as a two-hour period, leaving no time for the ground, drains or rivers to cope with the huge influx of water. These totals represent about 1-2 months worth of rainfall in just a few hours.

A well-developed upper low centered over Italy and the Mediterranean Sea has been drawing an abundance of moisture up and directing it north. On its way, it has been meeting a pool of cold Artic air and generating widespread thunderstorms with torrential rain.

While this system is slowly tracking east, it is weakening but will still likely produce widespread thunderstorms and heavy rain leading to flash-flooding over the next 48 hours. The countries likely to experience the heaviest falls over the next few days will be Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina and Serbia.

Image: Forecast rainfall in the 48 hours to midnight Tuesday UTC

The system will weaken quickly on Wednesday as a cold front breaks up the low to the south.

Hi RnR

Are you surprised that are not more people on this site considering how many in the Eastern States are in Lock Down?

I expected more people busy chatting away here.

Did you know that Italy will pay you $44k to live in the Southern town of Calabria?       

WORDS Elyssa Kostopoulos    PHOTOGRAPHY Instagram    PUBLISHED Mon, 19 Jul 2021 - 12:30 pm

Sure, there's no doubt that Australia is a fairly good place to be living out the pandemic; but the mind can't help but wonder (or wander for that matter), of what life would be like say half-way across the world with a Mediterranean coastline at your doorstep? It's a common dream; but one that is only lived out by a select group – 'the lucky ones'. But Italy is wanting to make our dreams a reality, establishing a 'pay-to-live' system in one of its southern regions.

If you're currently living in Sydney and battling the out of control housing market; the concept of being paid to live somewhere rather than having to sell your left kidney to afford rent in a beatdown, studio apartment is virtually incomprehensible. And yet, the mayor of Altomonte, Giampietro Coppola, is prepared to pay you up to $44,000 AUD to make the move to relocate to a Calabrian village.

Seems like easy money if you ask me.

The decision is part of a newly-implemented program which aims to repopulate and revitalise the region. As it stands, statistics have found that over 75 percent of the towns in Calabria contain less than 5,000 residents each. Add in the dire impact COVID-19 has had on tourism and you can understand the need to inject some fresh blood into these towns.

“We want this to be an experiment of social inclusion,” said Coppola. “Draw people to live in the region, enjoy the settings, spruce up unused town locations such as conference halls and convents with high-speed internet. Uncertain tourism and the one euro houses are not the best ways to revamp Italy’s south.”

But as is the case with most things that are almost too good to be true, there is a catch. To benefit from the pay-to-live offer in Italy, you have to already be in a position to add economic value to the region. Basically, this isn't an Eat, Pray, Love find yourself moment. You either need to have a plan to start a business on arrival, or be able to fulfil a certain trade that a particular town needs. You also need to be under 40 and be able to make the move within 90 days.

If living in Italy's southern region doesn't exactly fit the brief, but you're still considering a move overseas; you'd be pleased to know that you can still make your Sicilian dreams come true in the town of Sambuca di Sicilia. Where you can manage to score yourself a home for just €2. No, that is not an error. And from what we know, this deal is very much 'no strings attached'.

The new scheme in Sambuca di Sicilia was launched just four days ago, and Calabria's applications are set to open in the next few weeks. We can guarantee availabilities won't last long.

Your next adventure: Aussies head to the 'tallest climbable tree on Earth' to admire the breathtaking views - but it's not for the faint-hearted

Those who aren't afraid of heights are venturing to the Warren National Park in Western Australia to climb what's described to be the 'tallest climbable tree on Earth'. Located almost four hours south from Perth, the 65-metre-high Dave Evans Bicentennial Tree was pegged with countless rods in 1988 to be used by firemen as a fire lookout, Today the tree climb has become a major attraction to visit, but it's not for the faint-hearted as there are no safety harnesses or handles.