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20210711001556300750 original ash barty wins wimbledon

Ash Barty has realised her Wimbledon dream, repelling a ferocious comeback from Karolina Pliskova and imposing her own glorious all-court game in a compelling three-setter to win the trophy she had always longed to hold.

Just like her idol and mentor Evonne Goolagong Cawley half a century earlier, Barty, another Indigenous Australian, annexed the Venus Rosewater Dish but she needed real steel to go with the style on Saturday to win 6-3 6-7 (4-7) 6-3 on Centre Court.

Barty had said she would have to play the match of her life to become the first Australian woman since Goolagong Cawley in 1980 to take the crown and she did just that, breaking the most feared serve in the competition six times.

Yet she effectively had win the match twice, having served for it at 6-5 in the second set and seemingly roaring to her dream triumph before the Czech world No.13 finally shook off her early nerves to battle back, win a fortuitous tiebreak and take the match into a decider.

Barty then showed why she's the world No.1, recovering her poise to take the final set after one hour and 55 minutes and she slumped to her haunches, with tears of joy, as it dawned what she'd achieved.

It marked the most significant milestone yet on an incredible global journey for 25-year-old Barty, who left Australia in March and had suffered tournament-winning elation and injury-ridden despair in equal measure leading into this crowning triumph.

Just a month ago, she feared she would not even make the start line at Wimbledon because of the hip injury she suffered at the French Open.

Yet after a remarkable rehabilitation and growing stronger with each round, Ipswich's finest saved her best to last to become only Australia's third ladies champion after Margaret Court and Goolagong as she lifted her fourth title of an astonishing year.

With Pliskova seeming almost paralysed with her stiff movement and unusually tame serving, Barty had torn into her, instantly breaking a delivery that had hitherto only been breached four times throughout the whole tournament.

Justifying being the overwhelming favourite as she held a 5-2 career advantage over Pliskova going into the final, Barty's superior all-court prowess eventually prevailed despite the eighth seed making a fight of it after starting like a statue.

The roof had been opened on Centre Court shortly before the first showdown to feature two first-time finalists since 1977 and Barty, who's won their past three meetings, made a perfect start.

She reeled off the first three games without dropping a point and when the frozen Czech finally got on the scoreboard after losing 14 straight points, Pliskova got sympathetic cheers from the crowd.

A double fault saw her go 4-0 down but Barty, in complete command, then tossed in a careless service game to give the 29-year-old a chink of light.

That was instantly blocked out as Barty took the next game but Pliskova showed signs of at last finding her feet, with a glorious service return winner earning her another break with the Australian serving for the set.

But Barty made no mistake in her next service game, winning to love to take the weirdly uneven opening set in just 28 minutes.

It couldn't be that easy for Barty and it wasn't, Pliskova suddenly finding her mojo to reel off nine straight points and move into a 4-3 lead in the second.

With a match having broken out, Barty, now looking a mite nervous herself, started using her backhand slice to it most devastating effect as Pliskova got broken from 5-5, 40-0 up.

Yet serving for a dream, she faltered, a double fault kick-starting a careless, nervous game and it continued in the tiebreak when two cruel net cords also came to Pliskova's aid as she took the match into a third set.

It was a set that showcased why Barty's the best as, intelligently, she began using killer slice even more effectively to race into a 3-0 lead.

Barty never looked back, banging down a seventh ace and seeing Pliskova dump a backhand into the net on championship point to claim the crown.

© AAP 2021

Image Credit: EPA/NEIL HALL

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FartVac is the world's first vacuum and filter for farts.

Know someone with flatulence issues? Well here's a gift that just keeps on giving - not just for the recipient, but also for anyone who has to spend time with the stinkers.

Created by Terdd Ferguessen, FartVac does what it says on the tin. It sucks up fart gas before it starts to smell.

"Using a hand-activated air pump and an activated carbon filter, FartVac reduces the stench of flatulence," the website indicates.

"By taking responsibility and trying to reduce your fart smells, you can now fart wihtout shame-- no more pain while fighting nature and holding in gas."

It works by removing gas under your clothing and filtering it before it enters the outside world.

Not sure it will work on really potent flatulence?

"NASA uses activated carbon for odor and impurification filtration, so we know the technology is sound. That said, there is no gaurantee that Fartvac will remove all the smell from your horrible gas. If people complain of your odor despite your use of the Fartvac, we recommend a higher-fiber diet and an avoidance of meat and dairy."

For those wondering why such a contraption was ever invented, it was in an attempt to normalise farting. "Farting is funny, we believe it isn't something that we should shame or be embarassed by. Our hope is that taking action to show others you are trying to reduce the smell will make loud and funny farts more acceptable in society. This world needs more laughter."

Image Credit: FartVac

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Some ads are entertaining, clever and fun. And some are just plain weird and too strange for words.

Check out these five surreal ads that took directions we didn't expect, leaving us asking "What did we just see?????!" 😳

Nothing here is terrifying, R rated or will get you in trouble if your boss walks past when you’re watching. But they’re all a bit weird and strange, especially the last one. There's no explaining that.

Let us know which one you thought was the strangest, and sorry if we’ve now ruined unicorns for you forever. You thought they were magical creatures didn’t you? Think again.

Squatty Potty

This ad has a cute cartoon-like unicorn, rainbow colours, glitter and ice cream. But don’t be deceived. Look carefully into the eyes of the unicorn and you’ll see its despair. Its reputation as a magical mythical creature is now associated with rainbow-coloured poop and bowel hygiene. It’s a travesty, even for us adults. Keep the kids away from this one unless you want tears before bedtime.


Voiz Waffle Chocolate The Secret

Should you keep secrets from your significant other? This ad suggests you shouldn’t, and shows a couple sharing a tender moment of connection. But then it takes an unexpected turn and we’re left totally creeped out. Don’t show it to your significant other, it might freak them out too and then your relationship might also take an unexpected turn.


Quiznos Spongmonkeys We Love The Subs ad

Turn your volume down a bit before playing this one - it involves weird singing-shouting from weird monkey-like creatures (though we can’t see the resemblance). You might have to watch it twice to make sure you didn’t actually dream it the first time.


Information is making us fat

This one is a print ad rather than something we can watch, but we're glad for that - we’re not sure we could handle seeing them looking any more real life. These surreal and very disturbing ads are trying to warn us against getting fat from overloading on information we see everyday on the internet and TV etc.

glory paris

Credit: Glory Paris


Little Baby’s Ice Cream

Okay this one is the closest to giving us nightmares. The creepy eyes that keep staring, the distorted music, the close-up that makes you feel claustrophobic and that voiceover. They’ve basically used serial killer vibes to sell ice cream. Which might be why the company closed down in 2019.

 Which one creeped you out the most?

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cat tokyo billboard

Move over Godzilla, because a giant cat is taking over Tokyo!

The calico kitty is inside a massive digital advertising billboard and greets commuters as they exit Shinjuku Train Station in Tokyo, Japan.

The screen curves around the building and creates a hyperreal 3D effect. In one video posted online, we see the cat waking up from a nap and almost falling off the ‘edge’ of the building. (But if it fell, it would land on its feet right!?)

The 3D effect works like those anamorphic chalk drawings you see street artists creating. Their image looks weird and distorted until you stand at exactly the right angle and suddenly you see an amazing 3D scene that you could fall into.

Right now the cat wakes up at 7am every morning Tokyo time, and heads to bed at 1am. But from July 12 it will only show up between other scheduled paid ads, so get in and see it now while it’s around more often.

There’s a live webstream from across the road so you can check out the billboard anytime and see what the kitty is up to. Tokyo is only one hour behind East Coast Australian cities so you’ve got a good chance of seeing the cat in action!

It’s not the first time we’ve seen 3D images jump out of digital billboards, but the technology seems to be getting more and more impressive.

Enjoy these other ones too (but don’t get hit by the train!):

Spaceship

Lion

Train

Image: Cross Space