Deadly Home Invasion! Lock Your Doors When You Sleep, My Friends!

Spending the best part of my life 'down under', I've obviously been exposed at times to some of the world's deadliest creatures - highly venomous snakes and spiders at the fore-front. But when it comes to 'home invasions', the worst I've come across, is a red-belly black (snake) on one occasion and redback spiders on a few.

Never have I experienced anything like this though!!



With a guitar as his only weapon, 42-year old Micko Srbinovska managed to make his way past the 1.7 metre salt water crocodile that had managed to find its way into the family loungeroom of his Darwin home, to get to the telephone to call the local 'Crocodile Management Unit'.

It's suspected that the monster reptile was an escapee from the Darwin Crocodile Farm.

Around 5:30am on Saturday morning, Mick was woken up by his wife Jo, who had been woken herself by their pet dog barking crazily just outside their bedroom door.

According to Mick, he "opened the sliding door and saw the crocodile right outside the door... It is pretty full-on when there is a crocodile in your lounge room - I nearly died."

By all accounts, residents in the area say that as many as 15 crocodiles have been suspected of escaping from the Darwin Crocodile Farm and turned up on properties over the past five years.

REALLY? FIFTEEN (15)!! - Maybe this is just another reason why I would never live in Darwin :D

Source: News.com.au

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2012 Mayan Prophecy - The Signs Are Upon Us!

Four Ahau, three Kankin - the winter solstice of 2012 is well known to be the day in the Mayan calendar said to prophesize humanity's doom. Equated to the Gregorian calendar, the world as we know it is due to come to an end on December 21st, 2012.

We've all seen the movie (2012) and many of us have read Steve Alten's first and even second novels in the Mayan Doomsday trilogy (the 3rd one's due out in March this year)... but as is the case with any good work of fiction, a great deal of research goes into the development of an idea which then is cleverly meshed with an author's or director's creativity to end up as an almost believable story (at least that is, for the gullible). Take for instance Oliver Stone's movie, 'JFK' - Stone cleverly uses some basic well-researched facts and twists them enough to add fuel to the 'JFK assassination' conspiracy theorists' fire (in reality, there was no evidence whatsoever to implicate David Ferrie, who was proven to be an avid JFK supporter - Mr Stone would have his audience suspecting otherwise, and thoroughly convinced the conspiracy theorists at the time).

Anyway - back to the Mayan Prophecy - whether or not you have concerns that the end for us is nigh, recent news-worthy events could certainly be construed as omens or signs of things to come - or at least they could be used in a good doomsday movie or novel (I hope you're reading this, Stephen King) :)

I'll point out just a few of these incidents - birds dropping dead out of the sky for no apparent reason, thousands of fish washing up dead on the shore, and different species of sharks mating for the first time to create an entirely new hybrid breed of ocean dwellers.

DEAD BIRDS FALL FROM THE SKY IN ARKANSAS



As New Year's Eve 2011 approached and most of the world was out partying, the residents of the small town of Beebe in Arkansas, USA, were watching the sky to see if the events of new year, 2010 would be repeated - 5,000 dead blackbirds plummeting from the night sky... and they were not to be disappointed - the same eerie event happened exactly 12-months later - sparking a frenzy amongst the doomsday theorists.

Police starting receiving calls soon after 7pm to say that the birds were just dropping from the sky - according to one local TV station, "scores of birds were raining down".

The most common (scientific) theory behind the bizarre event, is that the loud noises and bright lights of several large fireworks displays probably startled and disoriented the birds.

But this doesn't sit too well with Paul Begley, who is a pastor at the Community Gospel Bapist Church in Indiana.

According to Father Paul, "I was doing a live broadcast talking about bible prophecy and the end of the world... And the birds started falling out of the sky again... this is God... It's not fireworks. If that was the case, on the Fourth of July every bird would fall out of the sky."

One Beebe resident, Kevin McKinney, thinks that something else was going on, "Fireworks going off all night and all day - no problems!... But when the birds started dying, I had my compass out: it went crazy, spinning and unable to find north."

TWENTY TONNES OF HERRING WASH UP ON BEACH



Literally thousands of dead herring have washed up on a beach in Norway. Approximately 20 tonnes of dead fish littered the shoreline in Kvaenes (northerly district of Nordreisa).

Scientists are still baffled as to the cause and are conducting tests on the fish to see if they were driven to their death by a predator or simply swept ashore by a storm... the doomsday theorists are claiming it as a sign that the world is Armageddon is definitely on the way.

SCIENTISTS FIND THE WORLD'S FIRST HYBRID SHARKS



Marine biologists in Queensland, Australia have discovered 57 animals and have idnetified them as a cross between the 'common blacktip shark' and the 'Australian blacktip shark' - although they are related, the two are genetically distinct species.

Scientists are putting the interbreeding down to the animals adapting to climate change... they have also warned that the 'hybridisation' could make the sharks stronger.

Dr Jennifer Ovenden, of the Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries, said that "to find 57 hybrids along 2000km of coastline is unprecedented."

Dr Jess Morgan, a researcher at the University of Queensland researcher, said that the phenomenon is highly unusual, "Sharks physically mate, which is usually a good way to make sure you don't hybridize with the wrong species".

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So, dear readers - there you have it... and I put it to you - are these just unrelated scientific anomolies, or are these actual omens of impending disaster, as the doomsday theorists would have us believe?

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How Do You Know If You're An Expat In Singapore?

I’ve had a number of people email to ask what this ‘Notatourist.sg’ collaboration is all about. Thanks to Joanne and the team over there, the following videos have been posted on YouTube which pretty much explain it all.

The first one is about the site itself and was played at the launch event held at TAB:



The second one is a video of the launch event itself:



Still not sure what it’s about and need more info? – Visit the site and check it out, or feel free to drop me a line.

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Our Amazing World In Pictures - Breathtaking!

My good ol' mate, Ralphie, in Melbourne has done it again. He always seems to get his hands on some of the most remarkable stuff and never fails to share with me on email.

In this edition, some of the most amazing pictures that you will ever see... ENJOY!!

ASIDE: Wishing a Blessed and Merry Christmas and a Safe and Prosperous New Year to Ralph and his family... have a beer for me mate.

The world's highest chained carousel, located in Vienna, the height of 117 metres:



Thor's Well - "the gates of the dungeon." CapePerpetua, Oregon. At moderate tide and strong surf, flowing water creates a fantastic landscape:



Emerald Lake in the crater of an extinct volcano. Tongariro National Park - NewZealand:



Restaurant on a cliff on the east coast of Zanzibar. Depending on the tide the restaurant can be reached both on foot and by boat:



Office of Selgas Cano in Madrid:



Desert with Phacelia (Scorpion Weed). Flowering once in several years:



Balloons in Cappadocia:



Dubai. The view from the skyscraper BurjKhalifa. The height of buildings is 828m (163 floors):



And this is the view down:



These trees grow in the forest near Gryfino, Poland. The cause of the curvature is unknown:



The border between Belgium and the Netherlands in a cafe:



Twice a year in the Gulf of Mexico rays migrate. About 10 thousand stingrays swim from the Yucatan Peninsula to Florida in the spring and back in the fall:



In the resort town of Skagen you can watch an amazing natural phenomenon. This city is the northernmost point of Denmark, where the Baltic and North Seas meet. The two opposing tides in this place can not merge because they have different densities:



In the Chinese province of Shandong is a bridge across the Gulf of Jiaozhou. The bridge length over 36 km is calculated for eight car lanes, and is the longest sea bridge in the world:



Day and night. The monument in Kaunas, Lithuania:



An unusual tunnel in California's Sequoia National Park:



This statue, created by Bruno Catalano, is located in France:



Family Photo:



The longest traffic jam in the world recorded in China. Its length is 260 kilometres:



Paris computer games store. In fact, the floor is absolutely flat:



Marcus Levine - slaughtering an artist in the literal sense. He creates his paintings by nailing a white wooden panel. At his latest series of paintings exhibited in a gallery in London, Marcus has spent more than 50,000 pieces of iron:



In the city of Buford (USA) lives just one person. He works as a janitor and as a Mayor:



Autumn Camouflage:



Haus Rizzi - Germany:



Lena Pillars. Russia, the Lena River:



Banpo Bridge in Seoul, South Korea:



Favelas of Brazil. The boundary between wealth and poverty:



Lost paradise in the Indian Ocean. Isle of Lamu:



Balcony of floor 103 in Chicago



From the outside it looks like:



View of the sunset from inside the wave:



This is a unique geological phenomenon known as Danxia landform. These phenomena can be observed in several places in China. This example is located in Zhangye, Province of Gansu. The color is the result of an accumulation for millions of years of red sandstone and other rocks:



In northwestern Montana, USA. The water is so transparent that it seems that this is a quite shallow lake. In fact, it’s very deep:



Airport in the Maldives is located on an artificial island in the middle of the Indian Ocean:



Lighthouse guard in Mare, France must be one of the most courageous people on the planet! Not everyone will have a smoke in such weather, and in such a place!:



Photo of storm in Montana, USA, 2010:



Skyscraper-Crescent Crescent Moon Tower (Dubai):



Heavy fog in Sydney, which enveloped the whole city:



The river above the river: Magdeburg Water Bridge, Germany:



Morning Glory - kind of clouds observed in the Gulf of Carpentaria in northern Australia:



Gibraltar Airport is one of the most extraordinary airports in the world:

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Reflections Of Singapore - Literally

Please note: Click on the images to view larger and higher resolution

With the timing and lighting just right, Singapore's Marina Bay looks beautiful - upside down or right side up!

Stunning: Towering skyscrapers are reflected in the calm water of Singapore's Marina Bay

The following amazing pictures of Singapore's iconic skyline reflected into the calm waters are the work of 33-year-old landscape designer, Vorrarit Anantsorrarak.

Vorrarit said, "My project started in December 2008 when I decided to do my first travelling to Japan... I saw the incredible site of the Osaka skyline reflected in the water and used my camera to capture the moment... After that trip I became addicted and have taken pictures in Thailand, Singapore and even China."

Light show: Vehicle bridges leading to the iconic Sands buildings of Marina Bay are transformed into a visual treat in the quiet of the Singapore night

You might be thinking that the image reflections must be the work of photoshop, but Vorrarit has insisted that his photos are all the result of his skill and timing.

High stakes: Singapore's iconic Sands building casino and resort is mirrored by the tranquil dawn light

He continued, "I love all the lights and vivid colours you can see in man-made structures... The reflections merge the buildings into natural form which reveals a different side to them... I sometimes flip my pictures over and try to make people guess which images is real and which is the reflection."


The Marina Bay esplanade in Singapore: 33-year-old landscape designer, Vorrarit Anantsorrarak spent four years capturing a series of stunning reflective images taken across Asia

Labour of love: Photographer Anantsorrarak wanted the light to be absolutely perfect so he would get up at the crack of dawn to capture these spectacular images

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