ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS: Were all Steve Jobs’ clothes made by the same designer?

QUESTION: Were all Steve Jobs’s clothes made by the same designer?

Apple co-founder Steve Jobs’s signature black polo necks were all made by Issey Miyake, a renowned Japanese fashion designer known for his minimalist and innovative style. Jobs wore a very consistent ‘uniform’ of black polo neck, Levi’s 501 jeans and New Balance trainers.

On a trip to Japan in the early 1980s, Jobs noticed that many workers at Sony were wearing uniforms. Intrigued by this, he asked Sony’s chairman, Akio Morita, about it. 

Morita explained that after the Second World War, uniforms were introduced as a way to unify the workforce and build camaraderie. 

Jobs wanted to create a uniform for Apple employees but this was not well received by the Apple team so he pivoted and commissioned Miyake to design his own ‘personal uniform’ instead.

Miyake designed the polo necks specifically for Jobs, who reportedly owned dozens of them. He retired the design after Jobs’s death in 2011.

This choice allowed Jobs to simplify his daily routine, focusing his energy on work instead of on his wardrobe, and it became an unmistakable part of his public image.

Maria Clarke, Congleton, Cheshire

QUESTION: Where are the world’s most extreme golf courses?

The term ‘extreme’ is open to interpretations. There are those that are extreme due to the length or difficulty of the holes, those where the terrain is extreme and those where the weather is extreme (sometimes both). There are even those where the wildlife is extreme.

Uummannaq, Greenland, is the coldest golf course in the world. Hundreds of miles north of the Arctic Circle, it is home to the World Ice Golf Championship.

The longest golf course in the world is the Nullarbor Links in Australia, which is 1,365km (848 miles) long. It runs alongside the Eyre Highway from Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, to Ceduna, South Australia, with the holes starting next to truck stops or visitor centres en route. 

Many of the holes are in barren desert, so it’s allowed for the ball to be teed up on the fairways.

Coober Pedy in the opal fields of South Australia is totally barren, and golfers carry a piece of artificial grass on which to place their ball for each shot. 

Balls hitting rocks tend never to be seen again, as they ricochet off at odd angles. The ‘greens’ are made less dusty by soaking the sand in oil.

The hottest golf course is at Furnace Creek in California’s Death Valley. In July 1972, the ground temperature was recorded as 93.9C. Furnace Creek is also the lowest course in the world at 214 ft below sea level.

The La Paz course in Bolivia is the highest, at 10,650 ft above sea level. While the mountain scenery is stunning, there are numerous canyons and cliffs to negotiate while trying to breathe the thin air.

Uummannaq, Greenland, is the coldest golf course in the world

In terms of difficulty, two stand out. High sea cliffs are a feature of both. One is the Thracian club in Bulgaria, with seven holes where hitting straight is essential if you ever want to see your ball again. 

The second is Cape Kidnappers in New Zealand. Not only are there sea cliffs but also deep ravines to be negotiated. It is rated as one of New Zealand’s premier golf courses.

If you like wildlife, at the Skukuza Golf Club in the Kruger National Park in South Africa, you should look out for lions on the course. And, in 2014, a man was dragged into a lake and killed by a crocodile there. For a time, the Carbrook Golf Club in Queensland, Australia, had bull sharks in one of its water hazards.

Bob Cubitt, Northampton

QUESTION: What is lucid dreaming?

Lucid dreaming is a state where a person becomes aware they are dreaming while still in the dream, often gaining the ability to control or manipulate the dream’s events. This occurs during the REM (Rapid Eye Movement) phase of sleep, when most vivid dreaming happens.

You can train yourself to have lucid dreams, using various techniques.

Reality Testing: Practising small ‘reality checks’ during waking hours, such as counting fingers or looking at clocks, can help you recognise when you are in a dream.

Mnemonic Induction of Lucid Dreams: Setting an intention to recognise when you’re dreaming, often by repeating a phrase such as ‘I will know I am dreaming’ before you go to sleep.

Wake Back to Bed: Setting an alarm to wake you during REM sleep, then returning to sleep soon after, can increase the chances of lucid dreaming.

The interest in lucid dreaming is often linked to its potential benefits, such as reducing nightmares, increasing creativity and even enhancing problem-solving skills.

Film director Christopher Nolan says he began practising lucid dreaming and dream manipulation as a teenager, and that his dreams inspired his movie Inception.

R. K. Phillips, Salford