Friday, July 15, 2011

Australia part I

So I was digging through photos on my computer & I ran across some from my trip to Australia a couple of years ago.  This first set proves my theory that everything in Australia can and will kill you if given the chance.  See for yourself...

Sure he looks innocent, but you don't want to know what he keeps in those holes.

This is the legendary pokey bird, famous for gouging out eyes with that beak.  Best to wear protective goggles when these birds are near.





Eww a snake!






AAAHHH! It's a croc!



Don't worry, they're safe to hold when they're babies...so long as they have a rubber band around their snout. Note: it's important to close your eyes so that the baby croc can't turn you into stone.

Fun fact: I was actually stung by a jellyfish while snorkeling, even though I was wearing a wetsuit. It was a tiny one though, not like the ones pictured here.




These ferocious turkeys will steal your clothes while you're swimming.  They like to use them as disguises for when they rob banks.




These giant flowers have been known to devour small children whole, so it's great if your kids aren't behaving.

Pictured here is the rare cassowary. They are often made of stone & are seen with tourists leaning on them.  This photo was taken mere moments before the cassowary bit off the head of my friend Jess.





This is a zombie bird.  You can tell by the red eyes.  Not very fast, but they see well in the dark.  Approach with extreme caution.  Use fire when possible.

See here the ranger is pointing out how foolish I am to be holding the deadly flesh tearing macaw.  What he didn't know is that I had just dusted my skin with macaw poison. Smashe 1-Macaw 0.


On the hunt--this guy hunts by the smell of blood.





Poor girl, these lizards are about to bore holes into her skull and suck her brains out.





What's he plotting you might ask?




Aha, he switched brains (and hats) with the ranger. Dastardly!

This lady spins a web to catch unsuspecting prey



Then does a victory march on a leaf

No matter where you are, you never know who or what is watching you...

Top 7 reasons why I would live in Quebec City if it were closer to the equator

7. The view


6. The way you know which stores have bread




5. Apparently the giants here keep potted plants


4. Little guys in top hats hanging from wires



3. Random acts of fire on a street corner


2. Free Cirque du Soleil (this is a girl with about 9000 hula hoops all going at once)


1. Poutine!

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Oh the French...

Canadians that is.

I recently went to Quebec City for a conference on human brain mapping.  Besides eating ham and cheese in every possible form, I also did a ghost walking tour with my friend Yaling.  Essentially this woman was dressed in clothes from the mid-1700s and wore makeup like a ghost and said that she had died in 1750, but while she was living, she was married to the executioner.  Fun fact: executioners only became executioners if they were on death row when the current executioner died. During this tour, we walked all around the city learning how and where people were killed.  My favorite mode of death was "the wheel" where the criminal in question was first tied to a sideways cross and then a blunt object was used to break most of the bones in the criminal's body. Then the broken body was interlaced through the spokes of a wheel and the criminal was left to die in the public square.  Apparently public executions were the entertainment of choice before TV was invented. 

Ok, so apparently I didn't get any pictures of our tour guide, but I "borrowed" this one from Yaling's fb page. {Thanks Yaling!}

I did, however, take this cool picture of a carving in the wall next to where we met for our ghost tour.