Cloudy with a chance of...Fish??

Those of you out there that have kids..or are just big kids yourselves have probably seen the animated film "Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs" where a wacky guy invents a machine that causes it to rain pre-determined food stuffs.
Well the town of Lajamanu in the Australian Northern Territories must be wondering if such a machine really exists and if so is the case...why on earth did they wish for fish?? The town.. situated 100s of kilometres away from any lake or coast had an unexpected downpour..containing... you guessed it...fish.
On two occasions within the space of a week the inhabitants experienced live fish falling from the sky.

One local resident exclaimed; "I haven't lost my marbles. Thank god it didn't rain crocodiles"

Weather experts say a tornado from a nearby region may have been the culprit although no such tornado was reported near Lajamanu. An updraft containing both water and its inhabitants can theoretically reach heights of 60,000 or 70,000 feet (18 - 21km).

  Photo: Newsbreaker

Sirocco- Spokesbird of New Zealand.

Sirocco- one of 124 Kakapo (a large flightless parrot) and now spokesbird for conservation in NZ.

You can find out more about our conservative star ...here... where you also become one of his 5000 fans on facebook. Or you can check him out in the videos bellow.



To see what all the fuss is all about you can see the film that made him famous bellow.
Here I am trying to convince people that we Kiwis do think of other things... and this shows up..hmmm..
Though He will have to explain his sexual preferences himself...

To Tickle?.. that is the question.

While on hold with a Medical clinic a Swedish woman was tickled by her partner...

"So what"!?

Well the story doesn't end there. Apparently the clinic answered the phone in the middle of the tickle incident unbeknown to the couple. What did the medical staff hear?.. A lot of screaming and shouting of the word "stop". Now assuming the worst, the medical staff quite rightly called the police.
After a while there was a very loud knock at the door. Upon answering, the partner was promptly told to sit down with his hands on his knees and stay there until the two policemen that had marched in could find out what was going on.
After explanations and conversations back and forth with both the couple and the medical clinic satisfied the police they left.

I personally think it was a great initiative of the medical staff because in such situations it is much better to assume the worst and be proven wrong than ignoring it all.

The whole story also got me to thinking that maybe I shouldn't tickle my girlfriend so much.. because I know how she feels about it, but hey.. it's fun.. so I guess having the police charging in is a risk I have to take.

The article can be read ...here... (in Swedish) in the newspaper Aftonbladet.

How bout those Olympics

Yippie!! Sweden has it's first Gold medal of these Olympics.. the first of many???
A Gold and a couple of 4th places.. Well Done.
As for New Zealand.. Katie Calder finished 63rd in Charlotte Kalla's Gold race.

How is it going for Norway at this stage?? maybe my friend from there could inform me if they have a gold yet? ;-)

Barbie Doll Anyone?

It appears that Barbie has a new career... Her 126th.
She is now a computer engineer.
Mattel explains as follows:

"The winner of the popular vote is Computer Engineer. Computer Engineer Barbie®, debuting in Winter 2010, inspires a new generation of girls to explore this important high-tech industry, which continues to grow and need future female leaders.

“All the girls who imagine their futures through Barbie will learn that engineers — like girls — are free to explore infinite possibilities, limited only by their imagination,” says Nora Lin, President, Society of Women Engineers. “As a computer engineer, Barbie will show girls that women can turn their ideas into realities that have a direct and positive impact on people’s everyday lives in this exciting and rewarding career.”

To create an authentic look, Barbie® designers worked closely with the Society of Women Engineers and the National Academy of Engineering to develop the wardrobe and accessories for Computer Engineer Barbie®. Wearing a binary code patterned tee and equipped with all the latest gadgets including a smart phone, Bluetooth headset, and laptop travel bag, Computer Engineer Barbie® is geek chic." 

My favourite must still be California Barbie... cool car and Bikini!!
I never ever ever played with dolls!!...Honest!!!;

R U Bored??

If so, beware!!!
... according to some experts... the old saying "bored to death" could have some substance to it.
There was apparently some study done in the United Kingdom where a statistical correlation was found between the death of some people and their admission to being bored... and not because someone killed them for their constant complaining.

Here are some exerts of an article I found at stuff.co.nz .....

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The link between boredom and increased heart problems was possible - if not direct.

"Someone who is bored may not be motivated to eat well, exercise, and have a heart-healthy lifestyle. That may make them more likely to have a cardiovascular event," said Dr. Christopher Cannon, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard University and spokesman for the American College of Cardiology.

He also said if people's boredom was ultimately linked to depression, it wouldn't be surprising if they were more susceptible to heart attacks; depression has long been recognized as a risk factor for heart disease. Cannon also said it was possible that when people are bored, dangerous hormones are released in the body that stress the heart.

Britton and Shipley said boredom was probably not in itself that deadly. "The state of boredom is almost certainly a proxy for other risk factors," they wrote. "It is likely that those who were bored were also in poor health."

Others said boredom was potentially as dangerous as stress.

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Thank god then I lead such a dramatic, exciting life full of action...
Oh well back to the Tv to watch some sitcom....chips anyone?

Oh and if you are interested... you can read the rest of the article  ...here...

Ice breaker II

Because I could feel the disappointment you all felt when I couldn't provide a photo for the previous blog...
I decided to do something about it.
Bellow is my artistic(?) impression of the incident.

Ice breakers

No... I'm not talking about when you are trying to get a conversation started with a stranger...
... I'm living up in the frozen north remember...

Anyway... some poor sod went for an evening walk on the ice-covered waterway that runs through central Stockholm when, all of a sudden, along comes one of those Ice breaker boats smashing the ice as its goes (of course) leaving the poor guy stranded on a piece of ice without the ability to move.

Now after what seems to be hours of screaming and shouting he is finally heard and a big rescue operation gets underway to save the guy. To make a long story short he is saved and they all live happily ever after.

But there then of course comes the question...who was it that said an evening walk was healthy for you?
I bet this guy will think twice before taking another one.

P.s. Somewhere about  --here-- I would of put a picture of the incident but then i realised that there might be some copywrite infringement thingy.. or something...

You never know.. one of my loyal readers might report me...
But of course I know who you are... both of you... and I might get even. ;)

Anyway if you want to see a photo, or read the article, it can be found ...here... at the newspaper Aftonbladet

Bad(?) angle?

There has been all sorts of articles both in the Swedish and overseas media concerning Japanese speed-skater Miho Takagi and her suit.

With headlines like "clothing shock", photos... such as the one left (courtesy of Reuters) have been cabled all over the world. It appears the skater's suit is see through and ..shock.. horror.. she is wearing a thong.

It now however appears that it could all be just one big mistake. It seems to be the result of various seams, the stretch material the suit is made of and a bad camera angle.

I don't know whether I should be glad for her or disappointed for all us men out there who all of a sudden had a reason to watch the speed-skating.