Slow Mo Croc Porn

Beautiful slo-mo of saltwater crocodiles in action, by Allen Dixon at NT's Crocodile Cove. Quite hypnotic:

Aboriginal Martial Arts 'Coreeda' Based On World's Oldest Martial Arts?

'Coreeda' is being used to control aggression in young people in Western New South Wales, but it's also good for fitness, fun and community ties:

Based on Aboriginal combat, the ancient martial art of Coreeda has played a crucial role in controlling hostility for thousands of years.

Gavin Dickson of the Coreeda Association of Australia is using this art form to similarly manage the aggression among kids on Mornington Island.

He said the children often resorted to violence and experienced aggression as a result of boredom.

"We were invited to Mornington Island to try and utilise the sport to help the kids in town manage aggression and inspire them towards traditional culture," Mr Dickson said.

 Great background story from Living Black:
  

Some more background:

"The legendary Dreaming account of how Coreeda first came into being was told in the Ngiyampaa Nation of Western NSW and is about a lizard man named Beereun, who was told by a giant snake to watch the Red Kangaroo bucks so he could learn how to fight without weapons. He then brought these fighting techniques back to his clan and initiated a wrestling tournament as an important peace-keeping ceremony, which instigated an era of great prosperity for the Ngiyampaa people.


Based on the dating of rock art at sites like Mt Grenfell near Cobar in Western NSW, it is estimated this first Coreeda tournament began over 10,000 years ago, making Coreeda one of the oldest documented styles of Folk Wrestling in the world"

More at the Coreeda Association here

More Australians Die From Heatwaves Than From Fire And Floods Combined

 How crazy are the heatwave extremes now frying West Australia, South Australia and Victoria? Well, the Northern Territory News is claiming Darwin is "chilly" and just the place to "beat the heat":

From the Sydney Morning Herald:

The number of heatwave-related deaths in Australia’s major cities is set to quadruple by mid-century, research shows.

There will be more than 2000 heat-related fatalities in 2050 compared with about 500 recorded in 2011, according to a federal government report.

The meteorological bullet will hit Brisbane and Perth the hardest, with deaths predicted to climb to nearly 800 in each city by 2050, compared with less than 200 in 2011.

Launching the State of Australian Cities Report on Tuesday, Deputy Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said climate change, population growth and the ageing population would all contribute to the growing death toll.

‘The overriding evidence is that our cities are getting hotter,’’ Mr Albanese told reporters in Sydney.

‘‘Heatwaves are our biggest national killer, well ahead of fire and floods.

‘‘This has particular relevance as our population ages.‘‘City residents are more vulnerable because of the Heat Island Effect (HIE) ... which can add up to four degrees to temperatures.’’

The report shows that heatwaves in the major cities are more deadly than other natural disasters, causing 2887 deaths since 1890.

This is more than bushfires (843), cyclones (935), earthquakes (13), floods (453) and severe storms (124) combined.

More than 400 people died in Melbourne and Adelaide alone from the 2009 heatwave in southeast Australia.The 1939 and 1895 heatwaves also caused more than 400 fatalities.

Here's a graphic of Australia's hottest days on record: 

 

 

 

Robin Williams On Australians: "I Hate Them, They're So Smug In Their Board Shorts"

Comedian Robin Williams knows more about Australia than most Australians might think. He practically lived here, in a beach house on the Central Coast, for many years during the 1980s. This gave him opportunities to make unannounced appearances at Sydney stand-up comedy venues, like The Harold Park Hotel. During one of these shows, he improvised about Australian men and culture for more than 20 minutes, and it was absolutely brilliant.

Williams is still riffing on Australia, in his new show The Crazy Ones about a NYC advertising agency:

In a recent episode, he pitched a campaign to officials of the Australian Tourist Board, who kept telling him to “dumb it down”.

Williams improvised this aside to his colleagues: “Oh God how I hate them. They’re so smug in their board shorts. And that accent. It’s like sand in your ears. Gday mate, no worries, put another shrimp on the barbie, Sheila this is Bruce. Their two dollar coin is smaller than their one dollar coin. Every single animal down there can kill you. And it takes forever to dry your hair.”

One of his colleagues protested that “they gave us Naomi Watts”. Williams replied:  “They also gave us The Wiggles, which are only enjoyable if you’re high. What kind of message is that for kids?”.

Williams admits his only experience of Australia was a drinkathon, after which “I woke up in a speedo on a beach in Perth, being pulled into the bush by an eastern grey kangaroo. An Aboriginal woman fought him off and I was with her for a while. There’s more, but I don’t want to bore you.”

Eastern grey kangaroo? In Perth?

 

Williams sparked a mini-controversy in 2010 when he called Australians "rednecks":