OZ AND THE MAYAN CALENDAR

Considering that in just about two days the Mayan Calendar will end, it's high time I wrote about it. Even NASA is in on the act: they've assembled a handy dandy Q & A which you can read HERE.

Theories about what will occur run the gamut: from one in which an as yet unseen planet called Nibiru will smack into Earth and another claiming Earth will totally black out.

My personal favorite, however, is the one about the flipping of the Earth's axis, including a complete polar shift. North will be south, and south will be north, maybe.

Why the fascination with this?

Ever since I was a kid I obsessed about the notion that everyone in The Land Down Under was walking upside down, even as I walked right side up. (Okay, I did take things too literally sometimes.) I dreamed up long walks over the planet's terrain, in which I would head down under and try to suss out just when I'd start feeling the upside down sensation.

A friend of mine, Hugh, lives in Australia, along with a bunch of his friends and countless other folks. According to my childhood theories, Hugh, his friends and everyone else in that neck of the woods are upside down even as I write and you read -- but that could change very quickly.

If all goes according to the doomsday predictors, and Earth's axis flips on December 21, then Hugh, Oz and the rest of the southern hemisphere will finally be right side up. Which of course means myself and the rest of the northern hemisphere will be upside down. 

As if that's not weird enough, Aussies are on a different time frame, and their calendars will read December 21 hours before it will in my neck of the woods. The party may start early for them.

Maybe I can get Hugh and his mates to give us a (pardon the pun) heads up?

Amen, and pass the Dramamine.