The road between the Indian city of Amritsar and the Pakistani city Lahore crosses the border through the village of Wahga (or Wagah, depending on which side of the border you’re on), which was divided in half when the subcontinent was partitioned in 1947.

While most border posts are mundane places where you fill out forms and get your passport stamped, this one is the scene of possibly the most spectacular – and the most well attended – border ceremony in the world, with crowds from both nations packing their own grandstand for a lively and festive celebration of nationalism.

By day, people and goods flow across the border, often with porters of one nation handing packages across the border to porters from the other. However at sunset, troops from the two countries parade in aggressive fashion, with much stamping, staring, brandishing of weapons, slamming of gates and coordinated flag-lowerings, all timed precisely such that one nation’s flag is not removed earlier than the other.

Check out the pictures at Panoramio and view some of the many YouTube videos to get a true sense of this border ceremony as a spectator sport.

Thanks to Mukesh Kanchan.

Today we’re investigating a trio of bear sightings in cities across the United States.

First we visit Denver, where a strange blue object visible from above is revealed by Street View to be a giant blue bear peering through the windows of the Colorado Convention Centre.

This 12m high steel and fibreglass sculpture titled I See What You Mean by artist Lawrence Argent was installed in 2005.  And in case you’re wondering, here’s what it looks like from the inside!

Another large bear adorns the exterior of a casino in Elko, NV to promote their star attraction.

The statue is a replica of White King – 3m tall and weighing 1000kg – claimed  to be the largest polar bear ever killed. The stuffed bear is on display in the casino’s coffeeshop.

And finally to Detroit, and bears of a different kind – teddy bears and stuffed toys of many kinds create the ‘unique’ decor of this house on Mt Elliott Street.

While you may wonder about the affect on local property values, it is actually part of a neighbourhood art project.

Thanks to lyrics_guru.

Following the example of Alex’s Rudest Place Names post, I hereby present my top ten confusing place names.

For each of these sights, I picture a confused driver arriving in town, rolling down the car window and asking a passer-by  “Can you tell me where I am?”

10. Smile, KY

Driver: Can you tell me where I am?

Passer-by: Smile!

Driver: <grinning widely> I said, can you tell me where I am?

9.  Okay, OK

Driver: Can you tell me where I am?

Passer-by: Okay.

<pause>

Driver:  I said, can you tell me where I am?

Passer-by: Okay.

<pause>

… repeat ad nauseam.

8. Uncertain, TX

Driver: Can you tell me where I am?

Passer-by: Uncertain.

Driver: Oh, you’re lost as well?

7. Goodnight, TX

Driver: Can you tell me where I am?

Passer-by: Goodnight.

Driver: Huh? It’s 11 o’ clock in the morning.

6. Stop, GA

Driver: Can you tell me where I am?

Passer-by: Stop.

Driver: But I am stopped …

5. Nameless, TN

Driver: Can you tell me where I am?

Passer-by: Nameless.

Driver: No wonder I can’t find where I am on this map.

4. Panic, PA

Driver: Can you tell me where I am?

Passer-by: Panic.

Driver: Aaaagh. Won’t you just tell me where I am, I’m totally lost and I can’t take it any more…

3. Halfway, Yorkshire and Halfway, OR¹

Driver: Can you tell me where I am?

Passer-by: Halfway.

Driver: Halfway to where?

Passer-by: No, you’re all the way to Halfway.

Driver: I’m confused….

2. Yell, TN

Driver: Can you tell me where I am?

Passer-by: Yell.

Driver: CAN YOU TELL ME WHERE I AM?

1. Why, AZ

Driver: Can you tell me where I am?

Passer-by: Why.

Driver: Well, I’m lost. Where am I?

Passer-by: Why.

… repeat ad nauseam.

This is Naval Air Station Sigonella, a U.S. Navy installation in Sicily, Italy, as seen in this image on Google Earth that was originally captured on June 27th, 2006.

This next image of exactly the same area is from Microsoft Live Maps, and far from simply being a much older image taken before the facility was built, this was actually captured in 2007…

Thanks to widespread coverage, many people are now familiar with the idea that “sensitive” areas of our planet are being hidden from view in the images that online mapping services display.

It’s also commonly understood that the images are usually altered by the company who originally took them (rather than Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, or any other buyer), allowing them to remain in line with their local laws and regulations.

Such areas include military installations, government buildings, and airports – but the point is usually simply to prevent people from viewing the exact details of the site, rather than attempting to deny their very existence.

Last year we saw some imagery in the Netherlands had been altered in a more dramatic way – drawing the ridicule of the Photoshop Disasters blog in the process – which in turn led to even wider recognition of the attempted cover up.

Well, it seems that the companies engaged in these activities have been paying attention, because closer examination of the supposed location of NAS Sigonella reveals that while there are clearly artificial repetitions of parts of the image, the overall result is by far the best Photoshop job we’ve seen on either MS Live or Google Maps.

Unfortunately, to the west of the site we can still see part of a runway that our inexperienced Photoshopper neglected to cover up – so there’s definitely still room for improvement.¹

So is this the start of a new trend? Will satellite and aerial photography companies now need to employ full time digital artists to hide things the governments don’t want you to see? Or is this just another example of Microsoft attempting to up the ante against Google?

Read more about NAS Sigonella at Wikipedia.

Thanks to Al Cohole.

Today we have a trio of mysterious water-based sightings. First up, these strange pools in Arizona.

With all the other weirdness in Arizona, these symbols could only be alien communications, right? The reality is that they were created by Forest Service employees. While they were indeed thinking of how they looked from the air (do I see a face with a Picasso influence?), the intent was to improve water collection in this mostly dry pond known as Duck Lake.

Secondly, in central New Brunswick we find this network of varying zigzag lines:

I cannot come up with any explanation for this one. Aliens again? Some kind of scientific research?

Lastly, a triangular network of ponds in Maryland:

Occult practices? Yet more aliens?

If you have explanations for the last two, do let us know. And of course if you know of weird waterways in your part of the world, we’d love to see them!

Thanks to Sean McCabe, Bully, Bob and Troy Stanley.