The Bird Spot

Prairie Home Companion

2012-01-01T08:59:00.002-10:00

Whoo Hoo! Cool stuff online!

2011-12-06T15:21:00.000-10:00

make custom gifts at Zazzle

Wow.. Speaking Truth to Power :)

2011-12-04T12:15:00.003-10:00

I hope this guy doesn't get fired from MSNBC

Toyota creates crazy new car.. but can it stream Netflix?

2011-11-30T18:11:00.001-10:00

A starfish robot? What about an octopus!

2011-11-30T18:04:00.001-10:00

The Beagles were saved ;)

2011-11-29T20:50:00.001-10:00

Dad, you should read Honolulu Civil Beat, Hawaii News & Civic Affairs

2011-11-26T21:56:00.001-10:00

Parvina is cute in commercial :)

2011-11-16T21:48:00.001-10:00

Poor Siri :(

2011-11-15T20:39:00.000-10:00

See all the CollegeHumor Original Videos here.

Robot teddy bear stops snoring :)

2011-11-14T21:13:00.000-10:00

Great APEC Waikiki Protest

2011-11-12T22:45:00.001-10:00

Getting water from air ;)

2011-11-10T22:21:00.000-10:00

I want a ball launcher!

2011-11-09T16:45:00.001-10:00

The Story of Broke and how we fix it :)

2011-11-09T15:55:00.000-10:00

Happy Birthday Matt!

2011-11-08T09:46:00.001-10:00

Two dogs dining :)

2011-11-08T09:30:00.000-10:00

Little Robot finishes Hawaii Ironman ;)

2011-11-02T21:54:00.000-10:00

Siri on the 4S is pretty amazing ;)

2011-10-21T12:02:00.004-10:00

Here's a few questions the folks at Apple anticipated ..

could this be the future of Siri :(

Occupy Honolulu Protest :)

2011-10-15T21:50:00.003-10:00

There was a huge group of us along Kalakaua protesting the bankers of Wall Street messing up the economy and not getting punished for it.. auwe!

Add these to my bucket list ;)

2011-10-15T21:42:00.002-10:00

It looks like you could go right over the falls! No wonder why it's called the Devil's swimming pool ;)

These are the Plitvice lakes in Croatia

This is how the touch screen started :)

2011-09-05T18:19:00.000-10:00

Momma alligator to the rescue

2011-09-05T14:46:00.003-10:00

Not gonna let this bird get her baby! Click here to see what happens

Dad, Good thing you didn't run into Kung Fu Bears!

2011-09-04T22:42:00.006-10:00

glumbert - Forget karate kid, meet karate bear

I wonder when the new iPhone5 will get here ;)

2011-09-04T21:58:00.001-10:00

Dad, Bambu misses you ;)

2011-09-04T21:40:00.003-10:00

The cat has no heat lamp or someone to let him in and out :(

It's nice to be home :)

2011-09-04T21:31:00.002-10:00

It's hard to believe that I've been back for a few weeks! I really had a great time and had fun meeting people and seeing friends again.. too sad they live so far!

Clinton becomes vegan :)

2011-08-21T09:05:00.000-10:00

http://ellen.warnerbros.com/2010/09/president_bill_clinton_explains_his_vegan_diet_0922.php

Dutch Beach Days at Zandvoort

2011-08-12T00:36:00.014-10:00

Lots of birds

They even have trash pickup ;)

I could watch the kite surfing all day, just like at home :)

Here's Barry and Jackie getting ready for Kiting in from of their beachhouse

Cute backyard!

Tons of Dutch Liquorice :P

Almost caught the green flash.. I saw a faint bit of green, could of been too much salt in the air :)

To get there from Amsterdam, we took a nice drive through the country

Went to dinner in Haarlem where we walked around this beautiful town

Back to Holland :D

2011-08-12T00:17:00.007-10:00

So after a great month in Italy and a week in Vienna, I'm going back to Holland to visit friends and all the places I love in the Netherlands ;) But first, I took a quick trip to Belgium to see Morrissey in Lokeren at the festival which was really fun :D Belgium is really nice and I enjoyed walking around Antwerp and Lokeren for the few days I was there.. I then took the train up to Amsterdam Central and worked my way to Dam Square where I bought a sim card for the iPhone so I could call people and have the Maps App so I wouldn't get lost :D

They have lots of street performers here too!

I even went up in a firetruck to look at the view :D

Watched the Gay Pride Parade :)

Lots of drunk spectators on boats.. It was one big party for all :D

Rome again :)

2011-08-10T08:51:00.005-10:00

nice night at the Spanish Steps :)

Saw my cousins at Roma Termini by pure chance:) I didn't even know they were in Rome!

More Tuscany

2011-08-10T00:39:00.010-10:00

After leaving the castle at Monummano Terme, I went to Pistoia for lunch and explored that cute little town.. it was near the castle so I had gone through it in the evening when it was much more lively.. I then went to Sienna to see that town.. which was very nice! There were lots of Americans there so I could hear some English :)

Lots of fields of sunflowers, wine and wheat :)

and great churches in towns along the way

The Hotel was build around a natural thermal spring and you could watch the water bubble up to the surface

The hotel has it's own thermal baths where they pumped in the water from the spring

They even had a steam room with chromotherapy :D

There is a beautiful natural warm pool.. which is the one that I found on Google and booked the hotel near.. I could have spent all day here, but the spa was nice ;)

It also has mud!

It comes through ditches and down a waterfall

Staying in the ruins of a Castle :)

2011-08-03T13:55:00.004-10:00

Another beautiful drive through Tuscany

Fields of sunflowers!

Stayed in the ruins of a Castle in Montsummano Terme :)

Georgeous sunset!

My view during dinner

It went on for hours!

Dad, is this the Tom Lehrer song?

2011-08-03T13:21:00.000-10:00

His style of singing is like School House Rock ;)

Here's the guy from Florence

2011-08-03T13:10:00.001-10:00

Lugano is beautiful!

2011-08-02T21:48:00.008-10:00

Had a coffee with a view (and some silence water ;)

The view from the top is amazing :)

It's also pretty at night!

It has interesting artwork on display.. I guess this guy travels around since Amelia took a great picture of him in Spain :)

It was Swiss Day so I got to see festivities, including those long horns!

Whoo Hoo! On my way to Lugano :)

2011-07-30T21:44:00.002-10:00

I need to catch a car ferry and then drive into Lugano off the Swiss Highway since I have no sticker :( I just noticed my Hotel has limited parking so I need to get there before other guests ;) I plan to go up Monte Generoso since it looks like a nice clear day! I'll post pics later :D

Lake Como

2011-07-30T13:16:00.012-10:00

Staying the weekend in Bellagio .. it's a small town full of cute shops and restaurants. It is a lot more Italian than the lake Guarda area with less Germans and more Americans .. I wanted to explore so I got an all day ferry pass and checked out the towns around the lake

The area is known for it's resorts.. this hotel across the lake in Cadenabbia created a sandy beach and a swimming pool right on the lake ...

Climbed Castle of Vezio in Varenna .. It was quite a workout and had great view of the lake :) I took the road route up and this great rugged trail down which was similar to the trails in Cinque Terre :)

They had a falcon show

and a great owl

and some ghosts! I guess every summer a tourist will pose and get covered with plaster and make a mold that slowly breaks down :)

They put these fake candles on the graves.. kinda freaky :(

Beautiful sunset!

Lake Guarda

2011-07-30T12:43:00.009-10:00

Bellisimo!

I stayed in a cute little town called Limone sul Garde in the northern part of the lake. It is famous for having residents that live over 100 years old due to a genetic mutation in the cholesterol gene :) I didn't see any of them, probably at home resting and avoiding the Germans that take over the town during the summer holidays ;)

This was the view from my room.. awesome! I woke up to watching sailboat races :D

And I found this great bar in Guarda, the town at the top of the lake :) Bars in Europe are different than in the US.. they serve coffee, food, and sometimes beer,wine and even gelato!

Pretty bridge at the southern part of the lake

More Venice

2011-07-29T23:24:00.002-10:00

Venice is a great place to visit, even with all the tourists in summer :) I thought Rome and Florence were busy, but Venice had the most.. maybe it just seemed that way beacuse of all the narrow streets and traffic routed over certain bridges :) There were more Americans there then I had seen before, so eavesdropping became a fun activity when strange situations arose :) I met a lot of nice people and had fun exploring the city.. and was lucky with nice cool weather! Here's a view from on top of the tower near the basilica

There were beautiful sunsets every night so I was out to enjoy them on land or sea :)

The city was even pretty at night by boat :)

There, of course, were tons of gondolas :)

and tourists going for rides!

There was tons of tourist stuff to buy!

The museum were full of interesting art

I even took the ferry to other outer islands

I saw the glass factories on Murano and all the great stuff.. too bad the trip home is so far! The guy said he could ship anywhere in 3 days.. doubt it, it's hard to get anything to Hawaii that fast, even from the Mainland ;)

Venice is amazing!

2011-07-27T12:36:00.002-10:00

This place is so strange, it could take a while to get tired of it ;) I have put way more pics on Facebook so check there :) I will try to add more later.. I took tons but haven't checked them yet since I have been so busy! I leave tomorrow and rain is suppose to come so hopefully it won't be hard to get to the next place :) It won't be as crowded so it will be nice to be away from the tourists!, although, I'll never complain about them in Waikiki again.. they act so much better there than here ;D

Cute fake iPhone fan ;)

2011-07-27T12:23:00.002-10:00

I could use this in Italy, especially in Rome and Florence :) Venice is much cooler, especially in the evenings which is nice ;) There are not too many iPhones here and most are owned by Americans so it makes it easy to tell if someone might speak English when I'm lost ;)

White "iPhone 4" Air Cooler from M.I.C. Gadget on Vimeo.

Off to Venice :)

2011-07-24T22:01:00.012-10:00

The last few days have been busy! I drove up from Tuscany to Florence where I went to the museums that I missed the first time I was there and explored new places! I even went to a science museum.. which was empty :( Here's me next to a Wooly mammoth leg found in Tuscany.. good thing there are not there anymore :(

I climbed the tower by the duomo to get a better view of the city and went back to the plaza di michaelangelo to watch the sunset :) I had the best veggie meal ever at il vegitanereo and more gelato :P It was hard to leave the city, but the adventure must continue! I drove up through some forests that looked like Switzerland, and even had ski lifts!

I then made it to Milan to explore the city and see Jack Johnson in concert.. and get a little bit of aloha spirit in my trip :) I first went to the wrong castle (who knew there were so many!) and then some helpful Italians told me where the right one was.. getting there was a little like the amazing race tv show! Fortunately, it gets dark late here so I was able to find it and make it before the show started :) The Italians here are so nice and helpful.. you would never know by the way they drive! It's like a Indy 500 just going down the street! At least Venice will have no cars and I can just get shoved around on a water taxi ;)

Saturnia is a lot of fun :)

2011-07-21T22:15:00.003-10:00

I had a great day visiting the thermally heated waterfall at Saturnia

The place had it's own mud bath section :D

Of course, I had to try it for myself ;)

Muddy from head to toe!

Then I had to get in and rinse off!

I ended up staying the whole day there since it was so wonderful!

Italy Round Two :)

2011-07-20T10:54:00.004-10:00

So far, the trip from Vienna to Rome and up through Umbria has gone well :) I took a few scenic routes since the drivers in Rome are as crazy as every one says.. so as they say "when in Rome... " I used the GPS on the iPad to get up here since looking at a map would have been impossible since there are few exits off the highway and nowhere to pull over :( I'm just glad that I got here before dark.. with an awesome sunset on the ride up the coast! The landscape is mostly fields of wheat and sunflowers with a few sheep .. and a lots of narrow winding roads with italian drivers :) This place is very rural between the small towns and very beautiful!

Last night in Vienna

2011-07-19T11:43:00.005-10:00

Well, it had to happen! I got lost again :) A simple walk in the park along the river after the conference finished got me far from the metro and I had to walk through some apartment/ industrial district until this cute little tram came by which took me into the city. Too bad my unlimited weekly pass expires today or I'd ride it all over to see the different neighborhoods :) The line ended at stephenstrasse which is along the river and has ice cream even better than Italy! Good thing I'm leaving, the Garam Marsala Chocolate is addictive :P

There are lots of great buildings, fountains and museums around the city.. too many to put pictures here..

The famous landmark is St. Stephens Church which I used to find my way back to the city center ;)

But it has a dark side in the basement.. a crypt of 11,000 bodies from the black plague

Vienna also has the strangest things!

2011-07-17T07:49:00.004-10:00

In addition to street musicians that play mostly classical music, there was this group with some instruments that I've never seen before.. They even had a bathroom with music to entertain.. Too bad it smelled like a port-a-potty :(

Vienna is beautiful

2011-07-17T04:31:00.005-10:00

Last night they had a party for the conference in the city hall which is called Rathaus (not sure if they get the irony) which is a beautiful building that had a central floor that I'm sure hosted many Viennese waltzes :)

It could have been worse!

2011-07-17T01:37:00.004-10:00

So, I missed the flight :( They had changed the gate from 5 to 8 and only announced the change in Italian so I sat there while my flight boarded and by the time that I realized the change, they would not let me on .. even though the plane was still sitting there! :( So my plan to get there early backfired and when I went outside of security, I saw the chaos that is Rome Airport! The next flight to Vienna was in nine hours so I stayed at the airport instead of going back into Rome and risking another transportation mishap :) I was looking for some fellow Lipari students, since I knew they flew out that day, but the place was so crazy that it was impossible! They were there somewhere, I found out by facebook message but they also missed their flight to Switzerland and had a crazy time rebooking (so it wasn't just me).. Only here in Vienna did I find out about Etna exploding and causing flight delays and cancellations... I was lucky to get out of Catania airport, since many didn't for a while. One of the students who was stranded told me last night that it was raining black sand in the city there and the locals just covered their heads with paper .. bizzare

This is what it was doing the week I was there :) and to think I thought of climbing it that day :)

Italy Round One

2011-07-12T23:14:00.004-10:00

The ability to connect my laptop to Wifi has not been as good as my iPad and iPhone since those have a 3G sim card that works wonders! I am not getting lost as much as I would without the GPS :D Of course all of my pics are on my laptop from my camera so posting location picks are on Facebook .. So check there if you're my friend ;)

The last few days included running around Rome with Ning, my old flatmate from Holland who came for the weekend.. We went to Trevi fountain, Spanish steps and other Rome hotspots.. Then we took the train up to Florence and saw all the favorites, David (all 3 of them), the Duomo, many plazas and other fun city sites.. Then we went to Pisa to see the leaning tower and the city. I then went to Cinque Terre to stay a few days in Vernazza which was incredible. I hiked the trails (the ones that were open) and swam in the sea to cool off. The Pesto and Gelato of the area was the best that I've had so far.. but I will continue the research when I get back to Italy :P

Of course, I am writing this at the gate before my flight which is suppose to board in 10 minutes only to look around and see no one.. So I had to quickly check the board to see that the gate had changed :( D'OH!!!!

The islands off Sicily are a lot of fun!

2011-07-10T12:29:00.006-10:00

The school was full of all kinds of information, but of course I remember the fun stuff more ;)

Climbed Vulcano and saw a familiar sight :)

But this place has something special! Cool thermal hot mud pools! So, it makes you stink like sulfur .. it was wonderful ;D

of course, I had to be a statue :)

Had to go for a swim!

another familiar site.. who knew there were tsunami warnings!!!

And how could I leave without seeing red lava on the other side of the world!

So this is why people come to Italy! :P

2011-07-10T08:06:00.003-10:00

This pizza was incredible! I have been sampling the pizzas and this one in Florence by far beats the rest :D

of course, the salads are delicious! This one was in a fancy place in Rome

can you believe this is a bruscetta! It is on the island of Salina off Sicily :P

Should I hike up Stomboli?

2011-07-03T20:44:00.004-10:00

Visit Stromboli Island in Italy di 5minTravel

Lipari is wonderful!

2011-07-03T02:45:00.002-10:00

This place is amazing! I highly recommend a trip here .. of course, it can be a bit tricky, but well worth it :)

This place stays open late at night, and of course, you can get gelato everywhere!

Rome in a Day!

2011-07-01T13:04:00.004-10:00

Well, the morning started off with two rounds of the Vatican so I saw more than most! They have the route such that you need to go all the way through to get to St Peter's basilica and climb the dome.. which I did.. very nice view from the top! Also went in and around the Colosseum .. many times! I am earning my gelatos!

Saw the gladiator at the foutain.. Hey! people drink outta that! ;)

This robot picks up semi-solid liquids ;)

2011-06-14T10:32:00.001-10:00

WiTricity.. This is how they should charge electric, cars!!

2011-05-16T21:47:00.004-10:00

This was from a talk two years ago!

Looks like they're working on it :)

Whoo Hoo! Going to Vienna!

2011-05-14T19:30:00.002-10:00

I was picked to volunteer (getting free registration worth $600)! So awesome! Should be full of great talks!

Oh my! I need to bust out my cube!

Europe 2.0

2011-05-10T22:38:00.002-10:00

Getting ready to spend another summer in Europe.. Italy, Austria, and of course, Holland!

Night surfing

2011-05-10T22:26:00.001-10:00

I've done it in Waikiki, but these guys are crazy, especially when the break is called Jaws!

KIDS REACT

2011-05-10T22:07:00.001-10:00

Happy Boy's Day and Cinco de Mayo :D

2011-05-05T22:39:00.000-10:00

Funny Simpsons on the food chain ;)

Camping at Maleakahana was fun!

2011-04-28T15:13:00.002-10:00

Just need to figure out how to close the tent!

The Big Island was fun :)

2011-04-22T07:55:00.002-10:00

We had great weather on the Hilo side .. The dry side can get flash floods too.. Here's one in Waikaloa :(

I wanna take this flight to Paris over the pole

2011-04-08T06:02:00.001-10:00

SF to Paris in Two Minutes from Beep Show on Vimeo.

The power of time

2011-03-29T18:06:00.001-10:00

Nature by numbers

2011-03-25T23:28:00.000-10:00

This movie was really well done .. I guess I'm a Banksy fan ;)

2011-03-22T18:12:00.002-10:00

This is the best explanation of the nuclear crisis in Japan that I have heard so far...

2011-03-15T21:56:00.002-10:00

Tsunami in Hawaii from Japan earthquake

2011-03-14T22:37:00.003-10:00

These images are minor compared to the ones from Japan.. The tsunami there was so horrific that it is hard to watch .. by comparision, we were lucky to have minor damage and no loss of life..

This is it hitting Kailua-Kona two house after expected arrival...

here's some of the damage it did :(

The boats and docks in Keehi lagoon at La Mariana on Oahu didn't do too good .. glad my boat wasn't there :(

Gotta love this Bulli :)

2011-03-03T21:40:00.001-10:00

I so want the electric one!

Fungus takes over brain.. Creepy but cool :/

2011-03-03T00:23:00.000-10:00

Seeing the Forest: Nine Pictures Of The Extreme Income/Wealth Gap

2011-02-19T10:44:00.000-10:00

Seeing the Forest: Nine Pictures Of The Extreme Income/Wealth Gap

Getting water from air!

2011-02-16T10:33:00.002-10:00

I always knew this was possible, finally someone did it! I so want one!!! :)

I should teach Byron to sing this ;)

2011-01-24T20:28:00.000-10:00

This bird is singing "Let the bodies hit the floor!"

I'm pretty good at finding bad projects ;)

2011-01-23T19:35:00.001-10:00

I can wait till the compost ball get here!

2011-01-16T00:35:00.002-10:00

I raked the leaves but I may need Ricky the dog to help me roll it ;)

This guy is motivational :)

2011-01-08T19:58:00.002-10:00

Dad, it's called Redi Shade

2011-01-04T18:44:00.000-10:00

Dad, here's a great way to insulate :D

2011-01-04T18:28:00.004-10:00

It's called ridgid foam :)

or you can fill it ;)

Happy New Year ;)

2011-01-04T11:29:00.000-10:00

Hopefully the firework ban won't last.. but it was really smokey :(

This blizzard really covered things up!

I love this new Word Lens App :)

2010-12-17T09:00:00.002-10:00

I wonder when it will translate Dutch ;)

Cool math linking computers and Egyptians ;)

2010-12-16T22:16:00.000-10:00

A hacked kinect can do so much more than play videogames :)

2010-11-29T00:37:00.003-10:00

Who needs to do this when I have Byron ;)

You can train it to recognize objects :)

and measure things in 3D

oh, and there's more!

I hope it doesn't grow into this :(

2010-11-29T00:16:00.002-10:00

We saw tiny versions of these blue button jellyfish in Lanikai yesterday that I never saw before :(

Kinect is pretty cool!

2010-11-15T21:10:00.003-10:00

This is much cooler than the Wii ;)

I can't wait till Project Draco comes out.. I don't like video games but I want to play this one :)

I should of started a pillow fight on the flight back ;)

2010-11-09T20:38:00.001-10:00

Here's a pillow fight on a Lufthansa flight :)

Having fun in Atlanta :)

2010-11-03T17:37:00.002-10:00

I need to take a break from the conference to sight see ;)

I plan to go to most of the talks on Dengue, the virus that recently killed Hawaii surfer Andy Irons :(

They sent an iPhone to space and then found it! Way cool!

2010-10-17T20:50:00.000-10:00

Homemade Spacecraft from Luke Geissbuhler on Vimeo.

Dad, here's why you shouldn't eat beef :(

2010-10-11T18:16:00.001-10:00

Sailing in Kaneohe Bay :D

2010-09-21T21:35:00.003-10:00

Here's the usual sailing in the bay with the Thursday night races.. we're the first boat that rounded the mark :)

Another awesome Lahaina return!

2010-09-08T09:52:00.004-10:00

Whoo Hoooo!!! We got 2nd overall and 2nd in our class... and we did it in 9 hours :)

Hope you're using reusable shopping bags :)

2010-08-17T16:01:00.000-10:00

Dad, White Lava on the roof?

2010-08-17T12:45:00.001-10:00

How can they not see this storm coming?

2010-08-12T22:10:00.002-10:00

We had a nice sailing race, but I saw the squall coming :( Just glad Charlie could handle it :)

Dad, Here's the happiness machine

2010-08-09T17:20:00.001-10:00

Mom likes this Coca cola commercial .. but it made us want to drink Coke :(

They're filming of Pirates of the Caribbean 4 in Hawaii :)

2010-08-04T00:55:00.004-10:00

Here they are at He'eia Kea Boat Harbor where my boat is :D

Here they are by the blow hole at cockroach cove ...

Dad, Bambu misses you!

2010-08-04T00:44:00.002-10:00

And of course, he won't let me sleep!

I'm so changing my car's air filter!

2010-08-04T00:35:00.001-10:00

Too bad I can't install a catalytic converter this easily :(

Dad, get Odie to mow the yard!

2010-07-30T12:00:00.001-10:00

glumbert - Dog mows lawn

Biking is great .. but a beer bike!?!

2010-07-28T21:32:00.000-10:00