Track Her Down

She Thought She Was A Rail Sleeper

A Belarus woman survived being run over by a 90 mph train when she fell asleep between the tracks after celebrating her birthday. The 32-year-old said: "I'd had a few drinks and felt sleepy and just lay down on what I thought was the ground. It felt very comfortable, but I later found out it was between two rail tracks and an express train went over me during the night. I didn't even hear it." Emergency services were summoned by people who were convinced she was dead.

FOOTNOTE: Dead tired, almost.

Post Of The Day

Today's major award is shared between Jo Beaufoix for the post Those Three Words and (gore blimey, don't say I didn't warn you) Memoirs of a Guppy Fish with Are You Sure This Doesn't Hurt. Among the other posts that caught my attention were Debbie in NC with Dear New Neighbour; Gawdess with Cate; Laugh Alone in the Dark with Does One-Sixteenth Count?; Moosekahl with A Shamrock Short; Colleen's On Matters Of Poetry And Sometimes My Soul; Quill Dancer with Majesty; Julie with Something Fishy This Way Swims; Chewy's 08-03-17; Mima with Superglue And Fingers – Bad Combo; Mother Of This Lot with Mothering Monday and Such Simple Pleasures with Got Tired?

Fiddler On The Hoof

Ice Age Mastodon, Going Cheap

Maybe the Governator will buy it. Nancy Fiddler of California has listed on eBay a mastodon skeleton that takes up most of her garage. The minimum bid: $125,000. Her family's relationship with the Ice Age relic has run its course. She said they need the money an online auction could bring, and her son would prefer to build hotrods in the space the creature now occupies.

FOOTNOTE: Jurassic perk.

Vrooom With A View

How I Missed The Flight Of The Hornets

Photograph copyright: DAVID McMAHON

As most of you know, my trusty Pentax K100D is practically welded to my shoulder, just so I never have to say: "I wish I had my camera to capture this sight". But be patient, pull up a chair and I'll tell you how I missed a spectacular opportunity. And you know the real clincher? I had not one but three cameras with me. This is how it all happened ...

On Friday at lunchtime I had to go and pick up a couple of great little Pentax cameras (the 10-megapixel Optio S10 and the eight-megapixel Optio M40) that I'm testing and that I'll give you my recommendations on in the not too distant future. Having collected the cameras, I then had to decide whether to take the freeway or go down picturesque Chapel Street. Naturally, I chose Chapel Street, even though I knew the traffic would be heavy. It's a funky street, so I knew there would be plenty of photo opportunities.

Bear in mind that it was more than 100 degrees that day and I'm not a tropical kinda person. But in the next few minutes, every time I saw a great photo opportunity, I would pull over, park the car legally, get out into the scorching heat and take the photograph/s. Then I'd drive off again.

Having done this a few times, I saw this great turret window (above). It caught my attention not just because of the shape of the window, not just because of the strong burgundy colour, but because the occupant of the apartment had carefully placed three pot plants on the narrow window ledge. I was too far away to tell what plants they were, but they were wilting in the extreme heat. And if you look closely, you'll see the right-hand flowerpot has a diagonal crack right across it, so it obviously loses water and moisture much quicker than the other two.

I had to get the shot. I put away the two new Pentaxes that I was testing and took out my own camera, with the 70-300mm lens that I bought about three weeks ago. It was perfect for the shot I needed. I thought about taking some more shots of the window and even framed one possible shot, a strong vertical, with the clear blue sky a great contrast with the burgundy. Then I shrugged and chose not to hit the shutter. I walked back to the car, placed the camera gently on the passenger seat and turned to check the traffic.

I'm not one for profanities, but that's as close as I came to uttering an oath.

There was one of the best shots I could ever have taken. Flying low through exactly the same patch of blue sky that I had framed a few moments earlier was a perfect formation of four RAAF F/A-18 Hornet jet fighters.

Aircraft do not fly in that pattern over the city, but the RAAF had special permission because the Hornets were practising their flypast for Sunday's Australian Formula One Grand Prix. I had just missed one of the rarest shots I could ever hope to shoot - by about thirty seconds.

Just don't talk to me about the f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-flight of the Hornets.

Spray Pain

Bungled Robbery Is A Real Tear-Jerker

A pair of bank robbers in Poland burst into tears and collapsed choking after they tried to use pepper spray on a cashier in front of an air conditioning unit blowing out warm air. The air conditioner blew the spray back over the pair, who staggered from the bank in Wroclaw empty handed.

FOOTNOTE: Don’t tell the pepperazzi.

Post Of The Day

We have joint winners today, so put your hands together for Misty Dawn's Pig Story and Shrinky's Rallying Point. Other great posts that caught my eye were Skinny Little Blonde with One Jar, One Cup, One Bag and a Forgotten Spoon; Singleton with The Talking House and Other Urban Legends; Crazy Cath with Bill of Assertive Rights; Big Blue Barn West with Man Tales - In The End; Katney's Kaboodle with Today; Akelamalu's Missing; Les Becker with For Mushy - I Think We're Wearing Her Down; Kimmy's Letter To My Husband; Hilary's Sky High; John-Michael's Glass-Wing Butterfly; Laurel with On Her Way; Seamus with Vulpine Diaries; Old Tom Wigley with Mandarin Duck; Jennifer H with The Weight of Letters; and DarylE with Consistent. Do pay them a visit and leave a comment if you have time.

This Is Not An Explosive Revelation

Training Routine Bombs Out

Maybe the pilot was aiming for a Target store instead. Residents in a Tulsa apartment were shaken but unharmed after a National Guard non-explosive training bomb fell onto their apartment building. The 25-pound bomb fell – unknown to the pilot - from an F-16 fighter jet and landed in the unit's bathroom. The National Guard is investigating the cause of the incident and said that until the investigation is completed training bombs will not be used.

FOOTNOTE: Okla-homer.

Show Some Spine

Brought To Book

Photographs copyright: DAVID McMAHON

These shots were taken some months ago, with a Pentax K10D that I was testing. I had the camera for about a month and I really enjoyed the weight and balance ratio, as well as the fact that the controls were all so well placed that I could change settings without removing my eye from the vicinity of the viewfinder. I used the camera in various light conditions and I shot a variety of objects. I had just shot a couple of frames of the shimmering hologram spines of some Guinness World Record books when I thought this view would be even better. I guess any image that forces you to look twice at it reinforces my theory - that even shots of the most mundane objects in life can be interesting. Yes, there is art everywhere. We just need to look for it.

(The Odd Shots concept came from Katney. Say "G'day" to her.)

Palm Sunday

With Fronds Like This, Who Needs Enemies?

Photograph copyright: DAVID McMAHON

I took this photograph about ten days ago, because I was walking past this miniature decorative palm tree in an unfamiliar suburb. And you know when a sight just beckons to you and says: "Photograph me"? You know what I mean. And I thought the sunset shadow was just right and the unusual colour of the wall was just right and if I framed it a certain way, the shot would be just right. Yep, sometimes you just have to follow your instincts and take the shot. But it's only possible if you carry a camera with you at all times.

Weekend Wandering

Please answer today's question on your own blog, any time until next weekend. Just link to this blog (or to this post) so I can follow the progress of the discussion.

The question is: Do you have an embarrassing relative?

The Sunday Roast

The Blogger With A Life-Affirming View

This week's interview is with Corey, who writes
the blog Living And Loving Every Minute Of It.

The first of the standard weekly questions: Why do you blog?

I started blogging last spring, after enjoying the process of reading some blogs of a few friends of mine. I got hooked and wanted in on the fun as well. Sometimes I can be a bandwagon jumper like that. My main incentive was to start using my brain in a fashion it hadn't been exercised in for a while. I wanted to convince those ever depleting braincells to STOP shriveling, and to challenge my brain to possibly regain what was lost.

I am a prime example of the "If you don't use it you lose it" theory. I have forgotten more than I will ever know. I figure if I encourage myself to think .... read .... and write creatively, I just might stop the slippery slope to being clueless.

However, once I got going with my blog, I discovered my greatest joy was in sharing my photography. For some odd reason, it is harder to trust that those in your "real life" are being straight with you when it comes to the quality of your photos. It is much easier to take the opinions of strangers who have no reason to blow smoke up your hiney.

I still blog for the two previous reasons stated, but now I am very connected to the blogging community and love sharing in the bits and pieces of so many lives. I find it makes ME a better person. Reading ... taking in .... acknowledging our similarities and differences .... helps ME become a more empathetic person, and I believe in the end .... THAT is imperative.

What's the story behind your blog name?

Long ago, I made the decision that it was time to just start concentrating on the positive. Life is too short to feel sorry for yourself. It is up to each individual to make their life what they want it to be. I believe in the power of positive thought. If I choose to be happy ... then I will be happy. I take each day at a time, and try not to worry about whether I have everything I want, just love what I have. Life is good. I am blessed.

What is the best thing about being a blogger?

I love the freedom to be me. I love having a place that I am entitled to just talk about whatever I want, without worrying if it is interesting to others. I can celebrate life without feeling boastful. I can share my photos without feeling like I am pushing it on anyone. I can connect with others that share the same interests as me, but most importantly, I can connect with those that help me to see life from another's perspective. I love it.

What key advice would you give to a newbie blogger?

First and foremost, be yourself. If you really truly think of your blog as YOURS, then you will continue to enjoy the process. If you start blogging to please others ... it will quickly lose its lustre. Secondly, go out ... find blogs you enjoy reading. Comment ... don't be afraid to comment. ALL bloggers love to get comments. You can't go wrong with commenting. Some will follow you back to your blog, and some will like what they see, and be back. Put yourself out there. Have fun.

What is the most significant blog post you've ever read?

This is hard ... picking just one. I have so many interests. All sorts of blog post inspire me. I love humorous, informative, photographic, and emotional raw posts. It is all good. I can't chose only one, so I'll put two here: A humorous one from Running With Books. I admire Bellevelma's style of writing. It flows nicely, and always leaves me with a smile. Her love for her son is fierce, and through reading her blog, I have come to have a true sense of who she is. This is the post that got me hooked. It is long .... but so worth it .... Hell On Wheels. Secondly, I'd like to mention the great writings on In The Life Of A Child. Nearly every post touches my heart, and blesses my soul. This is a recent example of Michelle's amazing story telling: Picture Perfect.

What is the most significant blog post you've ever written?

Let's see .... that is hard, as I feel that I have such a mix of posts ... some funny, some serious, and some with photos. I think this one by in large one of my favorite posts I have written. It encompasses so many of the facets of my blog. I do hope you enjoy it. I is for Innocence.

Thank you for this opportunity, David. YOU are awonderful reason to keep on blogging.

Today's Sunday Roast with Corey is the seventh in a weekly series of interviews with bloggers from around the world.

Tracking Down The Big Race

Yes, This Is The Formula One Circuit

Photographs copyright: DAVID McMAHON

This is the circuit that the Formula One drivers will be racing on tomorrow in the Australian Grand Prix, the first race of the season. You see, Albert Park, the venue of the big race, is a street circuit that is very much a public thoroughfare for 51 weeks each year. At lunchtime on Monday, a few hours before the circuit was closed off, I decided it would be a great idea to drive through the straight and the chicanes and past pit lane and give you an idea of what it looks like.

And because this week's theme for Photo Hunt is "I Spy", I've posted a series of photographs and I want you to "spy" something. All through the week, crews have been busy putting together the myriad things that make up the necessities for the race, but there is one thing amid all that feverish activity that has to come down, not up. Your challenge is to see if you can "spy" it in these photographs ....


This is what pit lane looked like (above). It was full of massive cargo loads waiting to be unloaded - probably the most expensive single airlift into the country last weekend.

At first I thought I was trespassing because I couldn't see any other vehicles on the track, apart from the odd forklift, a ute (utility vehicle) and construction trucks and vans. Was I going to be stopped and escorted off? Then I saw the traffic cones and security personnel and I realised what I was doing was perfectly legal in the last few hours of public access.


This forklift was coming toward me and I waited till I could frame just one shot, using the bright yelow and orange, with the white chairs and canvas awning in the background - and to ensure that the forklift driver could not be identified.

This was what the gravel trap looked like on one of the bends. Of course, it was nowhere near complete - and the finished product got rather a rigorous workout yesterday as the drivers tested their new cars on the circuit and Lewis Hamilton finally beat Mark Webber's lap time for the fastest performance of the day.

As you can see, I was lucky enough to be able to stop on the track a few times - just fleetingly, to be able to take a few shots. The colours of these plastic seats caught my eye - especially as they are green and gold, the Australian colours.

Yes, there were even cars. Four of them here were waiting in the scorching heat. Look carefully and you can still see the cross-bars above the cockpits to enable the crane drivers to lift them gently onto the tarmac.

Okay, time for me to sign off now. But have you spotted the one thing that needs to come down before the race starts on Sunday? Hazard a guess - leave me a comment and tell me what you reckon!

Post Of The Day

Today's winner is Kimmy with the post Letter To My Children. The other posts that made an impression on me were Jules Stones with Sweet Nothings; The Diva’s Thoughts with You Parents Have My Total Respect; Iowa Nature Photos with Different Perspective; Crazy Cath with I Love You; Karoline with Acceptance; Old Tom Wigley with Church Or Hunting Lodge; Jillie's I Feel Like This Is A Bad Dream; Holly Induction is Much Less Fun Than It Sounds and Miss Burrows with Be Nice To Your Mother. Do pay them a visit and leave a comment if you have time.

Justice Brought To Bear

Sorry, Honey, You’re Guilty

Is this a case of bear necessities? A Macedonian bear with Winnie the Pooh-type tastes has been found guilty of stealing honey. A court convicted the bear of theft and damage for stealing honey from a beekeeper who fought off the attacks with thumping "turbo-folk'' music. The Bitola city court found the bear guilty and ordered the state to pay the $3500 damage it caused to the beehives.

FOOTNOTE: Bad attack of hives.

Rainbow Connection

Who's Been Painting The Sky?

Photographs copyright: DAVID McMAHON

Can there be beauty in a threatening grey sky? Yes, as this series of photographs - taken about ten days ago - will show. I was out in the back yard, trying to divine whether the gloomy sky was a portent of the rain we need so desperately. Behind me, however, the sun in the mid-evening western sky was so bright that it was reflecting off the roof tiles of a neighbouring house. I took a couple of shots of the unusual light shining on the tiles and then a few minutes later a rainbow appeared in the east, so I took the shot again, this time including a segment of the rainbow.

So I had dark grey clouds in front of me in the eastern sky, yet behind me the sun was bright. Did we get a drop of rain? Nope. But I was about to go back indoors when I noticed a second rainbow had appeared, so I managed to get two or three shots before it started to fade.


When I was a kid, I remember being open-mouthed in amazement as my mother explained to me that rainbows are actually doughnut-shaped, but because we generally view them from the earth, all we see is a semi-circular arc.

I remember asking my mother how she knew this. Remember, this was long before the internet, long before Google. But my mum was my Google, because she knew everything there was to know and everything that was important to know and she could explain it to me in three languages, English, Latin and French. So she wasn't fussed about being asked such an irreverent question by an inky little schoolboy. And that's when she told me that as a student, she had once seen a full rainbow from a mountain town in India.

"Will I ever see one?" I asked.

"If you're lucky," she told me.

Later, when I completed primary school, I went to high school at St Joseph's College, North Point, in the Himalayan town of Darjeeling. Our school looked out onto an uninterrupted view of Mount Kanchanjunga, the world's third-highest peak, and during my wonderful years there I saw many majestic sights that drove home the message of Nature's power and beauty. But I never saw a full rainbow.

Then I became a sportswriter shortly after I graduated from university and I travelled constantly, flying to one amazing city after another. But finally, in 1982, I saw a full rainbow for the first and only time in my life. I flew to Kathmandu, Nepal, to get an exclusive interview with the just-retired Bjorn Borg (you can read the story of that helter-skelter trip at Interview with Bjorn Borg) and as the Boeing 737 took off from the airfield of the Himalayan kingdom, I looked out from my habitual window seat and I was blessed with a view of an entire rainbow that I will never forget.

Then in October 1987, my wife took a photograph of me at Niagara Falls. Being the meticulous person that she is, Mrs Authorblog motioned me to move until she was able to take the photograph so that it looked as though the rainbow over the Falls was actually coming out of my head. We often look at the shots from that holiday and I grin and say to the kids: "That was the day Mum found her pot of gold at the end of the rainbow."

But I think Mrs Authorblog has got them brainwashed. She just arches her eyebrows and replies, "Yeah, right," and the Authorbloglets echo her in chorus. One day they'll slip up and say "Yep".

Baaa-aaad News

Pulling The Wool Over Their Eyes

German police are trying to trace the owner of a sheep which outran police patrol cars and beat up a police dog. Police in the northern village of Guester say the sheep ran through the streets of the town at more than 30mph. It reportedly leapt over the bonnets of police cars used as a roadblock and even chased off pursuing police dogs with a few well aimed head butts. Officers eventually caught up with it after it jumped into a field and started eating the grass.

FOOTNOTE: Who's sheepish now?

Post Of The Day

Ladies and gents, please put your hands together for Lori, who takes out today's title with Fall And Rise Of The Farm. The other great posts that caught my eye today were Jamie Dawn's Dumb and Dumber; Cowgirl's Change of Seasons; Crystal Jigsaw's The Time of Your Life; Expat Mum's Me And My Big Mouth; Kimberly's My Heart Stopped; Imac's Wood; Heaven’s Garden with Colours of Joy and Lime's Nobody Bakes A Cake. Do pay them a visit and leav a comment if you have time.

Reverse Psychology

Let’s Just Splash Out On A New Car

It’s the glub-glub-glub club. An 11-year-old girl is in hot water after she sent her grandmother's car plunging into a swimming pool at Kingston Village apartments in southwest Shreveport. The accident apparently happened as the girl was trying to turn on the car's CD player. She accidentally put the car into drive and it hit some steps. She then put it in reverse, sending it across the parking lot, through a fence and into the pool.

FOOTNOTE: Car pooling.

H Is For Holbrook

Mate, Didja See The Submarine In The Outback?

Photographs copyright: DAVID McMAHON

The women in every branch of the McMahon family have this theory about the men in the clan. Let's put this in plain and simple English - the women think all the blokes are blind. Yep. Blind. As in we can't find car keys, even when they're staring us in the face. We can't find anything. We're just candidates for seeing-eye dogs.

So some years ago, when we were driving from Melbourne to Canberra , we pulled into the bush town of Holbrook to stretch our legs.

"What'll we do here?" asked one of the male McMahons.

"For starters, we can go and check out the submarine," I suggested.

Now, you've probably figured that I have a reputation for skylarks and practical jokes. This male McMahon (younger than me) looked me square in the eye. Gave me the gimlet stare. "Submarine?" he repeated. "What submarine?"

It's not often that I get in a situation where I am about to win a verbal joust with anyone. Triumphantly, I pointed behind him. "That submarine," I said in a gloating tone, "the submarine that just about takes up the entire horizon".

This story still causes him some mild embarrassment. Yes, there is a submarine in the Outback town of Holbrook, several hundred kilometres inland and not in any way connected to a creek, river, canal or any manner of nautical passage that perchance might lead to the open sea.

At the Holbrook Hotel, which faces the Hume Highway, you can clearly see the distinctive outline of the submarine on the main sign. Along with the ads for Australian beer, along with the high shady verandahs, along with the clear blue sky and along with the surrounding gum trees, the submarine is what distinguishes this town.

The sub is the HMAS Otway, the second of six Oberon-class submarines built for the Royal Australian Navy between 1966-79. It is 90 metres (about 270 feet) long and a sign nearby explains that it was "purchased and reconstructed by the citizens of Holbrook Shire". The sign also explains that part of the finance was raised locally, while $100,000 came from Gundula Holbrook, the widow of the late Commander Norman D. Holbrook, winner of the Victoria Cross. The town, as you've probably guessed, as named after the naval hero.

Across the highway from the Holbrook Hotel is a grassy oval and parkland, where interstate travellers pull in for a break. I'd have no hesitation in recommending the Submarine Cafe, where the service is friendly, the food is good and you have the option of sitting outdoors, either on the broad timber deck or out on the grass, shaded from the sun by a variety of giant umbrellas.

A lot of Outback towns have towering grain silos or slowly revolving windmills - but as you can see from the photograph above, Holbrook certainly has a distinctive look.

This photograph (above) shows the bulging bow hull, looking towards the gum trees across the highway. But let me get back to the male McMahon who was so skeptical when I told him we would go and explore the submarine that he couldn't see.

He obviously thought I was conning him.

For the home of ABC Wednesday, got to Mrs Nesbitt's Place.

Post Haste? What's That?

Someone Should Have Expressed It Better

Was the stamp still valid? A holiday postcard put into a mailbox 33 years ago finally arrived at its destination in Germany this week. The picture postcard was sent by a holidaymaker in the Bavarian Alps to a friend in the city of Aachen, 550 kilometres away. Both the sender and the recipient are long dead. The postal service could not explain why the card took so long to reach its destination. They suspect someone might have found it and sent it on again.

FOOTNOTE: Dead letter office.