Highmoon's Ponderings

The video of the mechanical tiger in Brugge keeps climbing the charts at YouTube. Check out the current honors the video has earned as of 10/11:

• #6 – Most Discussed (This Month) – Travel & Places – All
• #13 – Most Discussed (This Month) – Travel & Places – English
• #10 – Top Rated (This Month) – Travel & Places – All
• #9 – Top Rated (This Month) – Travel & Places – English
• #9 – Most Viewed (This Month) – Travel & Places – All
• #4 – Most Viewed (This Month) – Travel & Places – English
• #3 – Top Favorites (This Month) – Travel & Places – All
• #2 – Top Favorites (This Month) – Travel & Places – English

In addition, it has gotten 24,000+ views at YouTube, and the thread over at the Dragon’s Landing Inn forums where I first posted about the tiger has gotten 7,200+ views!

I just posted about this to ENWorld, Fear The Boot and Harping Monkey, so I can truly spread this awesomeness over the whole of geekdom!

I uploaded the Flickr gallery for the latest episode of The Gamer Traveler – Brugge, Belgium, and came across something that I had been meaning to share with geeks around the world.

Aside from all the neat places I visited in Belgium, all the wonderful historic grounds I traipsed upon, all the yummy beer I drank, the yummy chocolates I ate, and the wonderful people I met, there was one event, one surprise event, that stands out as “The Coolest Thing I Saw in Belgium ™”.

Let me not use words, and let the pictures speak for themselves:

That thing is exactly what it looks like, a mechanical, motorized tiger.

It was built by a local artist-metalworker named Kezanti who has a studio on the same street I was staying at. On our last day in Brugge, I went out for a little walk around the block, and ended up on the open-air dining area of this small restaurant two buildings down from our B&B. I saw the mechanical tiger standing there, but at first I thought it was a bitchin sculpture (Brugge is the kind of town where you can see open air art displays). Then the guy stood up and turned it on and I could not hold my geekness inside.

I spoke with him a little (him in much better English than me in my horrible Dutch) and he told me this was the first time he had taken it outside the studio and was having a celebratory beer. He then stood up and proceeded to ride the mechanical tiger! What’s even better, I got video: Click here to see it and leave a comment.

Just a handful of people saw this walking work of art take its first steps, beaming artists riding atop. These are the kinds of magic moments that happen when you travel that you remember forever, the moments that you could never, in a million years, have forseen and that happen, seemingly, just for you.

Furthermore, since like two days ago there has been a flurry of comments for the video over at YouTube. I just found out why:

My video was honored as #98 in the Top Rated (This Month) in Travel & Places. Even at 98, I think it’s pretty cool and it seems so does everyone else who has seen the video.

Drop by and leave a comment as well. Maybe next month I can go higher!

And THAT was “The Coolest Thing I Saw in Belgium ™.” 

The Blogthing doesn’t lie:

You Belong in Amsterdam

A little old fashioned, a little modern – you’re the best of both worlds. And so is Amsterdam. Whether you want to be a squatter graffiti artist or a great novelist, Amsterdam has all that you want in Europe (in one small city).

I got an email from the Ireland Tourism Board of a contest they are running where the lucky winner wins a one-week tour of a part of Ireland (Northern Ireland, Dublin/East/Southeast, West/Southwest) with air and ground transportation, accomodations, etc. and they get to podcast their trip for the Irish Tourism Board! I sent in my application faster than I could say slainte!

They ask for a 250-word or less entry telling them why you’d the a good choice, and here’s my entry:

Ireland calls to me like a siren; it always has. I visited Ireland for my honeymoon in 2002 and have been yearning to return, to experience the beauty of the land and the warmth of the people once again, to relive those happy memories, and create new ones along the way. Though I loved the whole island, I particularly long to return to the West, to wander Dingle’s pubs and lose myself in witty craic, to smell the sweet scent of burning peat, to drink a real Guinness like only the Irish know how to pour. It was in Dingle that we spent the bulk of our honeymoon, and where I left a little piece of my heart. I wrote an online journal of our trip to Ireland, and four years later, I still get emails from people who have read it and tell me they have fallen in love with the land as well, and from those getting ready to go thanking me for increasing their enthusiasm for their trip. I will talk to anyone about the wonders of Ireland, in person, by phone, by email, and if chosen, then by podcast as well. I already produce a short podcast called “The Gamer Traveler” and Ireland is on my list of upcoming topics. An opportunity like this would be fantastic to generate new content and truly be a chance to tell the world how much I love Ireland and why I think everyone should visit, too.

It’s a bit on the dramatic side, but it is all true.
Who knows, maybe something good will come my way!

Just got home after a 9 hour flight from Amsterdam via Paris, and I am incredibly tired, sad that my vacation is over, and happy to be home.

I tried posting a couple of times from the road but the email posts didn’t go through. Later on I’ll post a few pics, as we need to sort through the roughly 800 pics we took combined.

TTFN!

The day is going by super slow and I can’t wait to get out so I can go home, finish packing and make it official that we’re going on vacation!

On the plus side, I have had time to do a lot: I’ve caught up on all of my paperwork, leaving it all crystal clear for my boss while I’m out, and I managed to record, edit and send out a new episode of my podcast, The Gamer Traveler, this one focusing on the German town of Rothenburg (in honor of the World Cup and all).

I’m still psyched about the Miami Heat’s victory last night. NBA Champions, that sounds great. Too bad that we’ll miss the parade on Friday, but I’ll be wandering around Brussels, so it’s quite allright.

Ok, time to finish the dreary paperwork and catch the second half of the Holland vs. Argentina match on right now. Go Holland!!!

And GO USA tomorrow!!!