Straya!

[pErvinalia]

Straya!

In the vision, taken at Upper Coliban Reservoir in central Victoria, the man, with beer at hand, is carried for several metres above the water, catches a fish and eventually returns to shore.

Video of man fishing while dangling from drone under investigation by CASA

[Hermit]

Straya!

In the vision, taken at Upper Coliban Reservoir in central Victoria, the man, with beer at hand, is carried for several metres above the water, catches a fish and eventually returns to shore.

Video of man fishing while dangling from drone under investigation by CASA

Better video of man fishing while dangling from drone.

[pErvinalia]

I bet the fish was "one they prepared earlier".

[Hermit]

I bet the fish was "one they prepared earlier".

Me too. You don't typically catch a fish while suspended from a drone in under three minutes, and if you did there's no way it would not have been filmed and published in the same video. The one that is seen being hauled in looked already lifeless the moment it left the water.

And that stubby of beer (well, let's ignore them classifying Victoria Bitter as "beer" for now) was already empty at the point of takeoff.

[rainbow]

And that stubby of beer (well, let's ignore them classifying Victoria Bitter as "beer" for now) was already empty at the point of takeoff.

...but the self-satisfied grin is so geneene

[Hermit]

Toward the end of his very first flying lesson trainee pilot Max Sylvester's instructor passed out. Max had to land the two-seater Cessna all on his own. What cracked me up was when he told the controller at Jandakot Airport, Western Australia "I hope they don't think I'm paying for this flight" (1:36) while approaching the landing strip.

[Brian Peacock]

Straya!

In the vision, taken at Upper Coliban Reservoir in central Victoria, the man, with beer at hand, is carried for several metres above the water, catches a fish and eventually returns to shore.

Video of man fishing while dangling from drone under investigation by CASA

Now that's what I call an in-flight meal!

[NineBerry]

What noises do Australian cyclists create?

[rainbow]

IMG_20190908_120417.jpg

What noises do Australian cyclists create?

A sort of whining noise.

[JimC]

IMG_20190908_120417.jpg

What noises do Australian cyclists create?

A sort of whining noise.

[Hermit]

Proof that not all Australians feel the need to give a ball the sandpaper treatment before playing with it.

[L'Emmerdeur]

Cool paper on Palorchestes azeal and two other palorchestids. Apparently P. azeal had fused elbow joints.

'The extraordinary osteology and functional morphology of the limbs in Palorchestidae, a family of strange extinct marsupial giants'

Abstract:

The Palorchestidae are a family of marsupial megafauna occurring across the eastern Australian continent from the late Oligocene through to their extinction in the Late Pleistocene. The group is known for their odd ‘tapir-like’ crania and distinctive clawed forelimbs, but their appendicular anatomy has never been formally described.

We provide the first descriptions of the appendicular skeleton and body mass estimates for three palorchestid species, presenting newly-identified, and in some cases associated, material of mid-Miocene Propalorchestes, Plio-Pleistocene Palorchestes parvus and Pleistocene Palorchestes azael alongside detailed comparisons with extant and fossil vombatiform marsupials.

We propose postcranial diagnostic characters at the family, genus and species level. Specialisation in the palorchestid appendicular skeleton evidently occurred much later than in the cranium and instead correlates with increasing body size within the lineage. We conclude that palorchestid forelimbs were highly specialised for the manipulation of their environment in the acquisition of browse, and that they may have adopted bipedal postures to feed.

Our results indicate palorchestids were bigger than previously thought, with the largest species likely weighing over 1000 kg. Additionally, we show that P. azael exhibits some of the most unusual forelimb morphology of any mammal, with a uniquely fixed humeroulnar joint unlike any of their marsupial kin, living or extinct.

[Hermit]

Forget paleolithic Australian fauna. Booooooring. Current Strayan culture is far more fascinating. Like the Miss Nude Australia contest. It's an annual event since 1991, organised by the owner of Crazy Horse, a top class venue in Australia's best city, Adelaide. The latest event took place a fortnight ago, but ended prematurely when one of the contestants set the stage on fire. The heat and smoke generated when the stage curtains started burning set the fire alarm and sprinklers off and the building had to be evacuated. The contestant was disqualified.



https://www.vice.com/en_au/article/wjwd ... ge-on-fire

[JimC]

Bloody dangerous birds!

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-09-16/ ... a/11515246

[pErvinalia]

I haven't been swooped yet this season. Only a matter of time.