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Kali, Thugees & the Temple of Doom

By Symon ⋅ January 12, 2009 ⋅ 5 comments

Those of us raised on a regular media diet in the 80′s will remember well Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. I was all nostalgic the other day, and watched it on DVD (the first time in nearly twenty years). I must say that I was appalled by the human-sacrifice-to-Kali-goddess-of-death-by-thugge-cult-fanatics-in-temple-under-palace scene. The ‘Fast Forward’ [...]

Flipper… shark repeller!

By Symon ⋅ January 2, 2009 ⋅ 2 comments

Q: What do you get when you cross Flipper with Jaws?A: A fish that will bite you in half then save you from drowning. But seriously folks, as a follow up to my Surfing With Jaws story, I would like to retell the events which happened at a local beach (about 45 minute’s drive from [...]

Surfing with jaws

By Symon ⋅ December 13, 2008 ⋅ 7 comments

It was the summer of 99… oooo yeah (in my best Bryan Adams voice). Me and my good buddy Les were surfing at Elliots’ beach, Far North, New Zealand. It was a brilliant summer’s day, the waves were small but clean, and I was out the back by myself waiting for the next set (Les [...]

Treasure, death and a severed hand

By Symon ⋅ December 8, 2008 ⋅ One comment

I was reminded today of the ‘Money Pit’ of Oak Island, probably the longest running treasure hunt in history, and the most mysterious… For all you archaeologically-challenged readers out there, prepare to be enlightened. Oak Island is a small island off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada. While exploring the island (1765), 16-year-old Daniel McGinnis [...]

The real ‘Temple of Doom’

By Symon ⋅ September 21, 2008 ⋅ One comment

Are there real booby traps protecting the long deceased occupants of ancient tombs thousands of years old? Most scholars would say no, that there is no evidence to suggest there were any such traps, and if there were, they would long have become useless through time and dust. Imagine the Indiana Jones movies with no [...]

Giant boulder booby traps!

By Symon ⋅ June 4, 2008 ⋅ One comment

One of the most memorable opening scenes in movie history has got to be the boulder scene in Raiders Of The Lost Ark. Of course, undiscovered tombs, ancient booby traps and giant rolling boulders are the stuff of make-believe, aren’t they? Well, perhaps not. I came across the following photos recently while doing some random [...]