Friday, December 29, 2017

AN ( INTER)NATIONAL LAMPOON CHRISTMAS/CHINESE NEW YEAR VACATION SPECIAL

Being the first in  a miscellany of  ripping  yarns   from  Bali , Darwin, Magnetic Island  and  beyond.
 
As  Darwin is in the midst of the pulsating  Mango Madness Season , we begin with a spooky story from its Botanic Gardens,  popular with honking Magpie Geese  who fly in  from the outback  this time of the year to feast on mangoes   and  other  festive season  tucker.
A  wandering Little Darwin staffer was  strolling  about  the Botanic Gardens a few days ago taking snaps  when he came across a puzzling  situation, above , on a sheltered  walkway  that  meanders through the  popular   spot.  There on an  ornately carved  wooden   seat  was  a woman's   black dress , ringing wet ,  draped  at  one  end ... and  down the  other  was a piece of sliced fruitcake , still in its unopened  package. Please  explain ??? 
 
Apart  from being obsessed with stories about crocodiles, the Murdoch Northern Territory News is also partial to  UFO  visitations. Indeed,  the  newspaper's resident  cartoonist ,Wicking , whom one suspects is from  another planet  similar to the  NT   , in a recent  effort   depicted a  one-eyed   alien  from another planet offering  Uber  flights  in  its UFO.  So,  was  the  owner of the    dress forced  to change into a  space suit  before being   whisked  away to another cosmos  before   she  could  pocket  and  unwrap   the  inflight  fruitcake ???

If you think this yarn is weird , try the next one  for  size , also from a nice  part of Darwin , not far from the Botanic Gardens .

WHEN  ROADRUNNERS  COLLIDE

Stray  Peacocks, it seems ,  have a  fascination with  powerful cars  and  like fluttering up onto the bonnet and  roof  of  parked  vehicles, often being told to  hit  the road  in no uncertain terms. This  blog took  a series of  photos  showing the  feathered  roadrunners  in   action .
 One vehicle much  loved  by a  leadfoot  male  Peacock  is  the one with the desirable numberplate , above .  Soon after  being shooed away , the car  was  covered up to protect it from any further stomping about on the  duco . Another car , below , belonging to  a  police  officer  ,  received  attention from  the marauding bird  which found  it  most comfortable .
It seems it is only the gaudy males that like hopping  on hotrods , the plain looking  females  content  to be earthbound in  driveways  and  on  the  road .
What do the raucous sounding Darwin  roadrunners do at night? Our writer's attention  was  drawn  to  two  pair   grouped  on  overhead  power lines next  to a  street light , the long tails of the  males  hanging down in eerie green  strands . Other photos were  taken  through a  screen door   of  a  Peacock   standing  on  top  of  a   car  peering   inside  the  dwelling .

NEXT: The killer Turd.