New Zealand. The Land Of Plenty. Of Debt...

New Zealand Government debt,
has for the first time in the country's history, topped fifty billion dollars.
As a nation, we owe the rest of the world one hundred and forty billion dollars.
The photo shows the Prime Minister John Key congratulating his Minister of Finance,
Bill English on managing the economy so well...

Does Brazil Have The World's Most Beautiful Street?

Evidently there's an estimated eleven million miles of paved roads on planet Earth.
And hardly any parking spaces.
A sprawling asphalt and concrete network that represents man's conquest of the inaccessible wild landscape.
Ironically the best land now has cities and towns planted on it instead of food.
And also ironically, the streets deemed the most beautiful are those that closely resemble the wild and untamed.
There's a street in Brazil that has the title of the most beautiful street in the world, awarded by an international travelling audience.
It's the Rua Goncalo de Carvallo in the city of Porto Alegre.
Over one hundred and twenty Tipuana trees line the road, creating a 'green tunnel'.
You can have a look here for directions...

The Early Bird...

The early bird catches the proverbial worm.
And too, the dawning of the day.
This was how it was just a few minutes ago at Tokerau Beach in New Zealand's Far North.
It's especially for my German friends Sabine and Suzanne who didn't get to see a sunrise like this when they were here recently.
They weren't early risers...

Half The World Lives In Earth Made Houses...

Half of the world's population, approximately three billion people on six continents live or work in buildings constructed of earth.
The Musgum, an ethnic group in the far north of Africa's Cameroon, create their tall conical dwellings from compressed sun dried mud.
Called Cases Obos, the profile of the structure is that of a catenary arch, the ideal form to bear a maximum weight with minimum material.
The clever relief pattern on the surface is a built-in scaffolding that can support the human body to allow for maintenance of the structure by the re-application of more mud to the surface.
But I guess you knew all that...

Yoga Made Easy...

Well it looks simple enough doesn't it.
I mean you just put your head here and your feet there and your torso.
Just a minute, where is her torso?
Some practitioners of this ancient art can make it look very easy.
According to the New Zealand Accident Compensation Commission, they pay out about two million dollars a year to people trying to do a really simple yoga position like this...

Hobbit High-Rise Hotel In Chile's Patagonia...

High in the dense forest of the Hulio Hulio Biological Reserve in Chile's Northern Patagonia, there's an enchanted eco-tourist resort called Magic Mountain Lodge.
Its windows peek out from the vegetated stone facade which filters water cascading down the sides of this hobbit like structure.
Guests can luxuriate in hot tubs made from gigantic hollowed out tree stumps and access to this Lord Of The Rings fantasia is by a suspended rope bridge.
You don't have to be a Tolken fan to love this...

Charlie Bit My Finger - Again...

In 2007, three year old Harry put his finger in his one year old little brother Charlie's mouth.
Charlie bit it. Then Charlie bit it again.
The father, Howard Davies-Carr was making a video of the boys to send to relatives.
He sent the clip to YouTube.
The rest is history..
As of a few minutes ago, over 421,301,600 people had viewed the clip!
It's the world's most viewed amateur video.
There are 'Charlie Bit My Finger' fan clubs all over the world.
In their list of YouTube's 50 Greatest Viral Videos, Time Magazine rated 'Charlie Bit My Finger' as number one!
If you're the person who hasn't seen this completely underwhelming video,
you can have a look here...