Aliens have been trying to communicate with us puny humans for years now, usually via the confusing medium of drawing circles in Britain’s fields.

But a recent trend shows them branching out into more direct forms of communication with actual words being carved into our crops.

Of course they haven’t fully developed a grasp of our primitive languages, as seen in this example of childishly rude crop writing just beside Edinburgh Airport.

What, oh mighty alien lifeforms, are you trying to tell us?

Just a quick post to say that the best Google Earth update has now reached Google Maps! Get exploring people, fame awaits those who find the best stuff!

For the GGSS team (and many other people), today is the last working day before we get to take some much needed time off for Christmas.

So in the only way we know how (and with the help of a field in New Zealand), we’d like to wish all our readers a very Merry Christmas!

Things will be quiet around here for a little while, as we both intend to take a few days off, spend time with our families, exchange gifts, stuff ourselves silly, and stand about in front of the TV swinging our arms manically!

But don’t despair loyal readers! We’ll doubtless be back for a few posts before the New Year, and until then (whether you celebrate Christmas or not) I’m sure you’ll agree with the admirable sentiments of another nearby field.

Have a great festive season everyone!

Thanks to Stephen Maslin.

We’re getting in a very Christmassy spirit here at GGSS HQ, so we were very pleased to receive this submission of a pond in the shape of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer!

Well at this time of year it’s a Rudolph-shaped pond anyway, as the owner strings lights round the edge - including a large, strategically-placed red one. The rest of the year this is just a plain ol’ common-or-garden John Deere logo-shaped pond…

Thanks to Michael O’Donnell.

The story goes that when they were building the M62 motorway through northern England, one homeowner refused to sell his property, forcing the motorway to be split either side of his home. The story became ingrained in the history of the area, and John Shuttleworth even wrote a song about it.

Interesting I thought, and then in a spectacularly disappointing move, Wikipedia swiftly debunked this claim as myth. It seems that the owners, Ken and Beth Wild, have lived and worked here since 1971 (Ken is a sheep farmer), and the road actually forks around the farm to negotiate the hilly terrain.

Boo! Wikipedia, eater of time and destroyer of legend, curse you, and all who write for you! Here’s a BBC article about the couple with a video clip (and despite the sunny image Google provides, this looks like an absolutely miserable place to live).

Thanks to Nev Stokes and Cookie Monster.

“Look mum, there’s a boat driving down the Queen’s road in Bournemouth!”

Spoiler: Careful examination of the bridge’s shadow will explain this mystery… Still looks pretty cool though!

Thanks to ajho.

Thank you to everyone who entered our Free Book competition which ended last week. We were overwhelmed with almost 1000 unique entries and our glamorous assistant picked the following random five people to receive free signed copies of Not in the Guide Book…

• Tom Davis, PA, U.S.A
• Robert Sanchez, Salamanca, Spain
• Ian McCurdy, MI, U.S.A
• Nico Korn, Belgershain, Germany
• Andrena Harrison, Bucks, United Kingdom

Congratulations to you all, and commiserations to the many who we couldn’t give a free book to.

If you didn’t win then online book stores around the globe are still able to deliver in time for Christmas, so you can still get a copy for your Brother / Son / Nephew / Father / Uncle or even yourself at the following sites: Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, Amazon.de, Amazon.fr, Amazon.co.jp or Bokus.com (Sweden).

Continuing last week’s post about inventive use of space in Japan, today’s feature is Toyosaki, a 160 hectare area built on reclaimed land.

The development is just outside Tomigusuku City, and due to its proximity to Naha Airport they’ve made use of the advertising opportunity with some very neat large type that says something along the lines of “For Rent - Project Toyosaki under development”.

More info here (with land prices, if you’re interested).

Thanks: asteinmetz