Rude messages

Not everything can make the cut obviously, but things like this painting of a naked woman on top of this building near Phoenix, AZ are certainly eye-catching. Thanks to GSS reader prmckinney for sending it in.

Henry sent us a friendly message in New Zealand that, well, gets directly to the point.

Or you could be like this guy near Austin, Texas who loves to express his satisfaction with American president Barack Obama! Make sure you notice the detail of the middle finger! Thanks to Chris S.

Lookalikes

At times just the strange artefacts of Google Maps itself are amusing! Take a look at this rather unfortunately shaped road near the Newcastle FC stadium sent to us by Chris. On the more natural side, Pamela sent us this lake in Alberta, Canada that looks, well, pretty much exactly like a rat.

Signposts for the sky

Rooftops can be an easy target for “on-the-fly” messaging. Marc sent us a link to a huge “Amazing Race” finish line painting on the final approach path to LAX. The wildly popular American reality show has used Los Angeles as the finish line before, but it does seem odd that they actually put a channel and time on it. Maybe it’s just a huge billboard instead?

Quetzal sent us the letter Z carved into the desert next to a highway in Coahuila, México, which is apparently the sign of a notorious Mexican Drug Cartel. On a lighter note, Dawn sent us a link to this extravagant field maze that takes the shape of a steam locomotive!

Mystery circles

Sometimes the most interesting things we see on the ground however are circles. You have the obvious crop circles around the world, but then there are perhaps stranger things out there. For example, any ideas what this little circle in the desert sent to us by Mastboy could be?

Or perhaps this circle off the coast of the United Kingdom? Maybe it could be a beacon of some kind? Thanks to scotty for the link!

In a more mysterious entry, a series of strange circular features have been sent to us from deep in the forests of Maharashtra in India. They’re remote, they’re large, and no one seems to really know where they came from!

The four circles appear to be man-made due to the perfect circular shape and similar size, but no obvious pattern or purpose can be seen. One of the most popular theories are the circles are some sort of ancient water reservoirs, but one could argue how much water needs to be collected in the middle of a monsoon-ridden country!

Some more imaginative people think that ancient aliens visited and made the circles, but they aren’t really a patch on traditional crop circles though.

Even the local villagers in Kumbhale aren’t sure where the circles came from, even though one of them is practically on their doorstep.

Another theory suggests that the circles are “strikingly” similar to meteorite impacts, but the rims of these circles do not appear to share the same crowning effect that occurs near other true craters – and there haven’t been any meteorite fragments found here (although this could perhaps be due to erosion from the monsoons we mentioned).

For some discussion on the circles, including ground level photos, check out this link. What do you think they are? Thanks to Sandesh for sending in this intriguing suggestion.

Locations: Alberta, Arizona, California, India, Mexico, Morocco, New Jersey, New Zealand, Texas, United Kingdom / Categories: Crop Circles, Large Type, Movie Locations, Stadiums and Sport, Weirdness

View in Google Earth

The studios lie on the outskirts of the city of Ouarzazate, which itself has featured in titles such as Lawrence of Arabia, Star Wars and The Living Daylights, but doesn’t stand out particularly from satellite.

Ouarzazate was first used as a movie location by acclaimed British director David Lean, for his 1962 epic Lawrence of Arabia. Lean recognised that the city’s exotic scenery filled with “authentic-looking” locals made the perfect location for any movie with an ancient, desert-based storyline.

The Atlas Film Studios weren’t built until 1983, and today there are a wealth of props on display to tourists – many of which are clearly visible even from our unique vantage point.

The first thing visitors encounter is an incredibly fake-looking jet-plane, which was in Jewel of the Nile (released in 1985, if you remember that long ago).

All over the studio are disused sets from old movies, like this attempt to recreate the Precinct of Mut from Egypt’s Karnak Temple Complex (apparently this set was used in the 1999 TV movie Cleopatra – has anyone seen it?). These rows of ram-headed sphinxes are all made from fibreglass, unlike the originals.

The Precinct of Mut (one of these is fake)

From up here we can also clearly see the bamboo scaffolding that supports the temple façade (ground-level pic). Morocco doubles for Egypt a lot it seems, as the Egyptians are rather protective of their heritage.

Further out into the desert we find the more recent Kingdom of Heaven set, where we can see the remains of huge siege machines dotted in and around a totally fake castle.

There’s a fake boat skeleton here in the desert too, but I’m not sure which movie it featured in. Does anyone recognise it?

If you’re in the area and want to see something a little more realistic, to the north-west you can visit the Ksar of Ait-Ben-Haddou, an ancient village featuring a stunning collection of defensive mud kasbahs built into the side of a steep hill. The kasbahs remain occupied to this day, and they have been designated a World Heritage Site.

Alternatively, if you haven’t the time to take a trip to Morocco, you’ll be able to see the Ksar of Ait-Ben-Haddou in the upcoming Prince of Persia movie.

Thanks to Chris Davey.

Locations: Morocco / Categories: Buildings, Monuments, Movie Locations, World Heritage Sites

View in Google Earth

Constructed by Moroccan forces between 1980 and 1987, Morocco considers the area to the west of the wall to be its Southern Provinces, and decided to protect them from Polisario forces seeking Western Sahara’s independence.

The protected area was initially just a small portion of the north-western part of the country, but by building a succession of six different walls, the Moroccans expanded their territory to occupy the majority of the country.

The area east of the wall is called the Free Zone and is controlled by the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, though refugees from the area currently live in Algeria. UN troops are active in the area attempting to enforce cease-fire agreements, though landmines are still a major problem. Polisario supporters have labelled the barrier the Wall of Shame.

The wall begins its journey to Morocco at the Atlantic coast, and on its way crosses mountainous areas, as well as barren, unpopulated desert – where it’s often overrun by sand dunes.

Despite these breaches, the combination of walls, fences, and bunkers makes for a formidable obstruction, thanks to manned observation posts – which in some areas are positioned as regularly as every kilometre.

These forward posts are supported by larger, more heavily armed posts, one of which we can see here next to an ‘official’ border post in the south. Elsewhere we can see what looks like the charred remains of another. I wonder what happened here?

More on the Moroccan Wall at Wikipedia.

Thanks to Chris.

Locations: Morocco, Western Sahara / Categories: Deserts, Structures

View in Google Earth

Work started in 1986 to celebrate the 60th Birthday of Morocco’s then king, Hassan II. The most impressive part of this building is easily the world’s tallest minaret at 210m tall. Clearly seen from miles around the minaret is further highlighted by a green laser beam that each night points from the top towards Mecca.

Ground level photos and Wikipedia link

Thanks: Ross Burnett, Frank Castle, gabe & Patrick

Locations: Morocco / Categories: Buildings

View in Google Earth

Just down the coast there’s another wreck, and as I zoomed out from there I found a third!

Flickr has a picture of a shipwreck on the coast of Western Sahara, but I don’t think it’s any of these three! Can anyone find it?

Update: Reader Brandon found an astonishing 6 more shipwrecks on this strip of coastline! The last two are actually just across the border in Morocco but we’re totally letting that slip

Thanks to Patrick!

Locations: Morocco, Western Sahara / Categories: Deserts, Watercraft

View in Google Earth