DOG has been booked for illegal parking.

The blue heeler was tied to a fence outside Rapid Creek Market when it was approached by two Darwin City Council traffic wardens.

One of the inspectors wrote out a ticket – and taped it to the dog's lead.

Witness Ray McEvoy said he couldn't believe his eyes.

"I watched an elderly lady and her very faithful blue heeler roll up at the market," he said.

"The lady tied the dog to the fence and gave him a bowl full of water.

"And off she went into the markets.

"Then two traffic inspectors came along. They had a bit of a talk and, to my amazement, wrote out a warning infringement notice for the dog and taped it to his lead rope."

Mr McEvoy said the dog was tied to a fence well away from the foodstalls.

"It was on a path rarely used," he said. "And the owner made sure the dog was in the shade.

"It wasn't in distress at all. In fact, it was the most placid blue heeler I've seen in my life."

Mr McEvoy, who runs a commercial cleaning business, said the booking caused quite a stir.

The dog owner was last seen marching off in pursuit of the parking inspectors.

Council spokesman Grant Fenton said a dog was considered to be "at large" if the owner was not there.

"You can't tie up a dog and leave it," he said.

 

The GAZ Chaika was one of Russias prestigous limousines. These were produced in small numbers for use by the privilidged few such as senior politicians.


The first Chaika (which means 'gull' in Russian) featured styling that could be said to be influanced by American cars of the late 1950's and has a passing resemblance to a Packard of that era.

The power unit was a 5 litre V8 driving an automatic gearbox. Some models featured a push button gear selector in the centre of the steering wheel.



Various body styles were produced which included saloon, lengthened limousine, convertible, and an estate car. Some estate cars were adapted and equipped to be used as ambulances.


The 'fins and chrome' model remained in production into the late 1970's when it was replaced with a new model. The new Chaika had a much more restrained appearance which was more in keeping with cars made in other countries at that time.

GAZ no longer produce the Chaika, but are still a major Russian manufacturer of vehicles which includes the Volga car (originally a swede machine)





 

Now if this isn't a sign of the times I don't know what is! When Vitamin Water asked Facebook users to create a new flavor, could we have guessed that it would be called Connect? A black cherry-lime flavor drink made with caffeine and 8 key nutrients, Connect is the brainchild of Facebook user Sarah from Illinois. She's awarded the nice handsome sum of $5K for her contributions. Of course the coolest part of this whole contest is that Facebook fans got the opportunity to design the label, come up with the name and decide on the flavor. So what does Vitamin Water get out of this? A sweet social media marketing campaign that garnered more than 1 million Facebook fans. And Facebook? Well, just check out that bottle - notice a familiar logo?

Watch out for this drink in March 2010. Will you try it?

Have you asked yourself that lately? Why are you doing what you do? Is there a good reason for it?

It’s easy to get stuck into a routine, or a rut, and just keep on truckin without paying much attention to where you’re going and why you’re heading in that direction. But it’s worth stopping to take stock in case the reason has changed…or disappeared…or wasn’t really there in the first place.

•Why do you do the job you do?
•Why do you live the way that you live?
•Why do you want the things that you want?
•Why do you act the way that you do?
Maybe the answers are fantastically, awesomely, amazingly, incredibly, brilliantly wonderful. Or maybe they’re not. Either way it’s worth asking.

It is the perfect gift for the man, or woman, who has everything, and it has been heavily discounted.


But you will still need a rather large bank balance to purchase the Discovery Space Shuttle, which is being sold off by Nasa for $28.2 m (£17.7m).

The soon-to-be redundant shuttle was the ultimate boy's toy, flying faster and higher than any other machine in history. It was originally worth $42 million (£25.8 m) but the price has plummeted to take in the cost of hauling the monster from the Kennedy Space Centre to a major US airport.

Discovery, which has completed 37 missions into space and 5,247 orbits, has already been promised to the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum, but shuttles Atlantis and Endeavour are still available, the Independent reports.

Nasa is considering mulling the possibility of putting Enterprise, a shuttle prototype that never made it to space, on sale.

Nasa decided to sell the shuttles ahead of their retirement later this year. They are set to be replaced by the new Ares 1-X rocket, which is due to take over all manned space flights in 2015.

If the new price is still too daunting, an even bigger bargain comes in the shape of the shuttle's engines - no longer required once the craft is in a museum. The agency offered them for sale at between $400,000 and $800,000, but there were no takers. They are now offering them free, to anyone with the ability to take them home.