What's beyond Thunderdome...

Tina Turner belted out in her inimitable way that she only wanted what's beyond the Thunderdome -- but no one ever found out what, indeed, was beyond that hellish arena of sweaty, entrail-strewn, men-on-mens armed combat.

From what I've been able to assess from old tax maps and GoogleMaps, just beyond Thunderdome is ThunderGrove Centre, an midscale shopping area that features a Mervyn's, a Lord & Taylor, and a Cheesecake Factory. There is also a Banana Republic Outlet Store. Just down the road from that, on Hellsgate Boulevard, is the combination Taco Bell/Arthur Treacher's, which is adjacent to The Spear-of-Death Hyundai-Lexus dealership, offering the best deals on new and pre-owned autos with generous GMAC financing terms. A few doors down is Thor's Bowels Funeral Home, a nondenominational institution serving the forsaken community of the the greater Thunderdome area for 27 years.

A few exits down on the Lying Bandit's Parkway is a new cul-de-sac subdivision called Knifewound Treachery Warren, a gated community with a very discriminating resident review board (of the damned).

In the neighboring community of Gored Bastard Glen, there is a municipal pool, open six days a week, Memorial Day through Labor Day -- through the scorching hot summer of the post-apocalyptic Australian outback. There is also a snack-bar with a full assortment of Good Humor products.

It's worth noting that if Tina Turner had indeed gotten her mitts on what was "beyond Thunderdome" back in 1985, the appreciation of property value would have made her and that feral band of cast-off children she led quite wealthy. Lord Humungus himself had substantial holdings and was able to flip the property for a "humungus" windfall a few years ago, and he was able to buy himself an armada of nickel-plated octane-tanker trucks, each equipped with roof-mounted harpoons and napalm flamethrower turrets.