Well I see the profile of an man looking out to sea, off the west coast of Ireland – but I suppose you might see something completely different…

Thanks to Peter R

On the day this image was captured there was something slightly unusual going on in this derelict factory in Brussels, Belgium. Inside the walls of the roofless building, there’s some tents and several lorries, a Helicopter, and… an African village?

How do I know it’s an African village? Well, it transpires that on this very day the abandoned factory was actually being used as the set for a TV advert – an advert which features a man being chased through an African village by a helicopter! Here’s a direct link to the 6.8MB Quicktime movie of the ad.

Spot the same car in both shots!

The tents and lorries to the west are presumably for the cast, crew and equipment and I suspect that the walled factory was chosen because it would hide Brussels from sight of the cameras perfectly. Suddenly it all makes sense!

Thanks to Romanov (via belgeoblog.be).

Back in the 1850s, Britain was worried that France would try and invade, so Lord Palmerston (the Prime Minister of the time) decided to build the Palmerston Forts to defend Portsmouth’s dockland, four of which were built out at sea.

Of course, France never did invade, and by the time the forts were finished the perceived threat of invasion had passed anyway, rendering the forts completely redundant. They were built to be strong however, and so nearly 150 years later they’re still standing, and over the years have been adapted for various uses.

At 240ft across, No Mans Land Fort is joint largest and is currently a private residence. If you look closely you’ll see the fort has two helipads as the only means of access.

Nearby, Horse Sand Fort is currently in the process of being converted into flats. Perfect if you’re a very private person but a nightmare if you don’t get on with the neighbours.

The smaller fort Spitbank is available for parties and such as “The Ultimate Venue!“, assuming your idea of an ultimate venue is a inaccessible lump of rock that has been “virtually unaltered since 1870″.

Unfortunately the smallest fort, St.Helen’s, is just outside the high-resolution imagery.

Thanks: Saul David

It’s been a long time coming to this site, but finally it’s time to visit the *world famous**, Long Island New York Big Duck!

Seemingly adored by Long island residents, the Big Duck was built in 1931 by a duck farmer keen to promote his products (who apparently had the sense to patent his duck-shaped building). The Big Duck has eyes made from the taillights of a Model T Ford which glow red at night, and she’s actually been moved several times during her lifetime.

Because of her proximity to New York City, the Big Duck is amongst the best known of America’s roadside tourist attractions, and is also probably the reason that the term “duck” is now used in architecture to describe a building built in the shape of something associated with it.

* Nope, I’d never heard of it either

More at Roadside America and Wikipedia, and thanks to Andy Affleck and JoeD.

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water… it’s the Return of the Alien Civilization!

If you’ve been a reader for a while you’ll remember the original Alien Civilization post, where people were arguing about the reasons for the strange images for months on end. In fact they only stopped when Google updated the images, and a very ordinary lake replaced the crazily-coloured pattern that had been there before.

This new Alien Civilization is actually a lake in the Austrian Alps, and quite probably frozen. In fact you can actually see skiers and snowboarders on top of the nearby Penken mountain – which is the first time I’ve seen a wintertime ski-resort in high-resolution (and has the added bonus that I was actually there in 2005!).

Thanks to MAX.