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John Cleese’s Rubbish Dump in Palmerston North….!!!

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Just outside the city of Palmerston North in the North Island of New Zealand is a rubbish dump named Mt Cleese.

It’s perhaps the first time in history that a landfill has been named after somebody. But who is Mr. Cleese and what had he done to bring upon himself such a misfortune?

Mr. Cleese is none other than the British comedian John Cleese, of Monty Python fame.

18 months prior to the historic renaming, Cleese had delivered a backhanded remark to the North Island city of Palmerston North. While on a tour of the city performing shows, Cleese reported that he had such a bloody miserable time that he was very happy to get out.

“We stayed in a little motel, the weather was grotty, the theatre was a nasty shape and the audience was very strange to play to,” he said, finally adding, “If you ever do want to kill yourself but lack the courage, I think a visit to Palmerston North will do the trick.”

His dubbing of Palmerston North as the “suicide capital of New Zealand” created a furore.

In 2007, a year and a half after the incident, when everyone thought the matter had been forgotten and forgiven, Palmerston North fired back by bestowing a dubious honor on the British actor. His name now graces a refuse heap outside of the city.

The comeback was suggested by New Zealand comedian John Clarke, who originally suggested the local dump be renamed the “John Cleese Memorial Tip – All manner of crap happily recycled”. A shorter name—Mt. Cleese—was eventually chosen.

“Hopefully the sign demonstrated the suicide capital of New Zealand had a sense of humour,” said Chris Pepper, the city council waste and water manager.

Photo credit: teara.govt.nz

Source…….. kaushik in http://www.amusingplanet.com

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Anna Creek… A Cattle Station in Australia…Bigger than Israel !!!

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In Australia, cattle stations—which is the equivalent of an American ranch—tend to be unimaginably large, so large that some of them are bigger than some European and African countries.

Take Anna Creek Station, a well known cattle station in South Australia, near Simpson Desert between Coober Pedy and Lake Eyre. This station covers nearly 24,000 square kilometers. By comparison, Israel is barely 21,000 square kilometers, and the biggest ranch in America is just over 3,300 square kilometers. In fact, there might be close to a hundred cattle stations in Australia that are bigger than the biggest American ranch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Australia’s cattle stations are huge in size because of the continent’s climate. Most stations are located in the north and the central regions of the Australian Outback, where the climate is so dry and the vegetation so sparse that a large amount of country is needed to support enough cattle to make a living. Even a cattle station as large as Anna Creek Station normally runs about 17,000 animals during a good season.

The Anna Creek Station was bought by Sir Sidney Kidman, Australia’s so-called “cattle king”, who owned large areas of land across Australia during his lifetime. Kidman was thirteen when he ran away from his Adelaide home in 1870 with only 5 shillings in pocket and a one-eyed horse that he had bought with his savings. His teen years, Kidman worked as a drover, stockman and livestock trader, and made money supplying services to new mining towns springing up in outback. Eventually he had saved enough to buy his own station.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sir Sidney Kidman

Kidman began gobbling up one estate after another until he was the biggest landholder in the world by World War I. At one point, the size of Kidman’s properties exceeded the size of the entire United Kingdom. His family still owns more than 10 million hectares, or about three-quarters the size of England. With a herd of 185,000 cattle, S. Kidman & Co is one of Australia’s largest beef producers.

There are at least nineteen cattle stations in Australia whose size exceeds 10,000 hectares. Four of them exceeds 15,000 hectares. These cattle stations are so large and the grazing area so spread out that it takes weeks to round up all cattle during the mustering season. Back in the old days, cowboys used to ride out in horses gathering up cattle. Today light aircraft is used for spotting animals which are rounded up by stockmen on trail bikes.

Because of the remoteness and size of Australian cattle stations, life is very isolated. The next human settlement is often a day’s drive away. So these stations function like small towns with schoolroom for the kids of the owners and workers, a small general store to supply essentials and possibly an entertainment or bar area. Electricity is typically provided by generators or solar cells. Internet and television is provided by satellite.

Anna Creek Station is currently owned by Williams Cattle Company, after it acquired the property from S. Kidman & Co in 2016.

Bonus fact: The name “Kidman” and “Australia” may remind you of actress Nicole Kidman. The connection is more than a coincidence—Nicole Kidman is actually a descendant of Sir Sidney Kidman.

Photo credit: Planettrekker/Flickr

Source ::::: Kaushik in http://www.amusingplanet.com

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Riverside: The Future Birthplace of Captain James T. Kirk !!!

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James Tiberius Kirk—Star Trek fans will recollect—was the youngest captain in the Starfleet history, who boldly lead the starship USS Enterprise and its crew into new worlds where no man had gone before.

Going by Star Trek’s timeline, James T Kirk won’t be born for another two hundred years. Yet, a small town south of I-80 on the eastern side of Iowa, United States, is already basking in the glory of the legendary captain’s exploits.

Riverside is a sleepy little place with a population of less than a thousand. Nothing much of anything happens here, which is why in 1985, Steve Miller, a member of the Riverside City Council, suggested that the council declare Riverside the future birthplace of Kirk.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo credit: Peter Zillmann/Flickr

Steve Miller, a Star Trek fan, had read Gene Roddenberry’s book “The Making of Star Trek”, where the creator of the landmark TV series stated that Capt. James Tiberius Kirk was born on March 22, year 2228 in Iowa. Because Roddenberry didn’t say where, Miller saw an opportunity and he seized it before anybody else could.

The council agreed unanimously. Miller poked a stick into the ground behind the town barber shop, which he owned, and declared that it was the Captain’s future birth spot. An engraved monument was eventually placed there. Later, a bench was added along with a Shuttlecraft-shaped donation box for upkeep.

Riverside’s official slogan was also changed from “Where the best begins” to “Where the Trek begins,” and the town’s annual summer festival was renamed from “River Fest” to “Trek Fest”.

The town’s Murphy’s Bar and Grill decided to get into the act too. A plaque was engraved, then mounted on the floor under the pool table, proclaiming that Kirk was “Conceived at This Point” exactly nine months before the date on his birthplace monument down the street. The plaque was later removed from the floor and affixed on the wall.

Riverside’s name as James T Kirk’s birthplace eventually became official Star Trek canon in 2009, when the town was identified as Kirk’s hometown in the Star Trek reboot movie. The entire town was invited to a special secret preview screening of the film, a day before its official release. And every year, on the Friday night closest to the March 22 birth date, Trek fans gather at Murphy’s Bar to sing Happy Birthday.

Star Trek-themed signs along First Avenue (Iowa Highway 22) in Riverside, Iowa. Photo credit: Tony Webster/Flickr     

Source….Kaushik in http://www.amusingplanet.com

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Message for the Day…Sri Rama Navami…” It is to understand and assimilate the principle of Ramayana that we are celebrating the festival of Rama Navami today.”

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Embodiments of Love! The story of Rama is not an ancient one. It is eternal and ever new. It is full of auspiciousness. When you contemplate on Rama incessantly, you derive great joy and delight! Ramayana teaches the principles of righteousness (dharma) and the path of duty to every individual. Ramayana sets an ideal to parents, brothers, and sisters in every family and to humanity! It is to understand and assimilate the principle of Ramayana that we are celebrating the festival of Rama Navami today. It is not enough if the celebration is confined to merely partaking of sweet pudding and other delicious items. May you fill your heart with the sacred ideals of the Ramayana! Obey the commands of Lord Rama. Pain and pleasure, sorrow and happiness follow one another. One should treat them with equanimity. May you give up hatred and all differences. May you live in peace and harmony!

Source:::: http://media.radiosai.org/

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