\\\\\ Ursi's Blog /////

The Lion Man

2010-06-30T19:40:00+01:00

Ohh my ... I love these magnificent creatures!
This is an unbelievable view to wild life ...

It's Time to Stop Blogging

2009-02-02T12:55:00+01:00

Hello everyone, sorry it's taken me a while to come over here with this: I have decided to end this blog, after doing around 6000 postings over about 4 years. So I owe you an explanation.

There was a time when I couldn't even imagine not being a blogger. My identity as such has been both something that distinguishes me in the eyes of real world friends and family and also something that has given me friends and family whom I've never met in person.

All things have life cycles - blogging doesn't need me anymore. It'll go on just as well, maybe even better, with some new space opened up for some new things. But more important to me, there will be new space for me. Blogging not only takes a lot of time (which I don't begrudge it, I love writing) but it also limits what I can do. So I have decided to move onto other activities. Or maybe I remembered how to be a poet in the real world.

Understand that our time on this planet is very limited and there are so many interesting things in life. You must choose how to spend the time that is given you, and if the majority of it is spent blogging, you really need to reconsider that choice.

I was among the "A-List" bloggers and I enjoyed what weblogs have to offer, but I don't use weblogs as my sole source of knowledge and self-affirmation. Always remember that the "blogosphere" is an echo chamber that can give you a very distorted image of reality if consumed without enough perspective. The vast majority of the online world does not read or write weblogs, and in no way are we smarter or hipper or more interesting or better informed than they are.

Yes folks, it is the end of an era -- or at least, the end of this blog as we know it.
And of course, I'll keep this blog. It will remain available as an archive.
Perhaps I will do some posts in the future of some of my favorite things ... maybe.

So good luck to everyone and I wish you all a good life!

Pearls of the Caribbean - Bayahibe, Hacienda Dominicus Resort

2008-12-14T07:38:00+01:00

We had a fantastic time, a glorious vacation and the fabulous cruise was perfect! We will definitely go on a cruise again! Maybe next year ...
So enjoy the last video of Bayahibe

Not so famous like Punta Cana and not so crowded like Boca Chica, the La Romana/Bayahibe region in the southeast of Dom Rep still offers beautiful beaches and nice resorts.

For the next 7 days we stayed in Iberostar Hacienda Dominicus, three miles from the fishing village of Bayahibe.

Part 1: The resort area - what a lovely place! This resort offers peace and seclusion. Everything is surrounded by extensive tropical gardens. Fountains spin & fly in just about every corner of the main complex. I loved the tame Flamingos.

Part 2 (start around 05:42): Sports & Fun - over all days, there was a wide variety of land and watersports and other activities.

Part 3 (start around 08:16): At the beach & around - the resort is situated directly on Bayahibe beach. We enjoyed often to grab a cocktail or two from the beach bar. A nice place to sit and watch the world go by.

Part 4 (start around 15:13): Sunset and the beautiful display of sky color that occurred shortly after the sunset. Just one of them ...

On March 27th we had to fly home ... but we definitely left a little piece of our heart in the Caribbean.

Note: It's a 18 min HD video and a pretty large file (300MB+), it takes awhile to load! If the player stops, this could be because the server is overloaded, your Internet connection is slow, and/or overall Internet is slow. You may need to pause it and let the video load a bit more before watching it straight through.

Previous Video: One day at sea and arrival Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
First Video: Aruba & Start of the Cruise

Pearls of the Caribbean - Day at Sea & Arrival Santo Domingo

2008-12-09T11:57:00+01:00

The cruise came to an end. But the adventure continued ... enjoy!

Part 1: March 19th - Final day of the cruise at sea. Some impressions of the ship, some last shopping, a lazy afternoon and a wonderful sunset.

Part 2 (start around 05:42): Arrival at Santo Domigo, Dominican Republic, March 20th at 6.20 am.

Everybody went home - we wanted to stay longer.

Part 3 (start around 08:14): Per Taxi to Bayahibe,
Hacienda Dominicus Resort. Impressions from the drive.

Note: It's a 11 min HD video and a pretty large file (300MB+), it takes awhile to load! If the player stops, this could be because the server is overloaded, your Internet connection is slow, and/or overall Internet is slow. You may need to pause it and let the video load a bit more before watching it straight through.

Upcoming Video: Bayahibe
Previous Video: St. Kitts

Christmas And Holiday Cards For Geeks

2008-12-09T11:56:00+01:00

The newspaper The Telegraph has a rundown of the funniest seasonal cards for geeks, nerds and webheads: Christmas And Holiday Cards For Geeks

Cute Animal Christmas Song

2008-12-09T11:45:00+01:00

No commet - *lol*

(via The Presurfer)

New News Stories in Photographs

2008-12-09T11:34:00+01:00

The recent "acqua alta" (high water) in Venice, Italy reached a depth of 1.56 meters (5 ft, 1 in.) on Monday - the deepest flood in 22 years, and the fourth highest flood level in recent history, claimed Venice's Tide Center. The water began to subside on Tuesday, while residents and tourists made their way through the city, hip-waders or not - one man even took the opportunity to ride his wakeboard through Piazza San Marco (until police stepped in). Although this flood was severe enough for the mayor to ask tourists to temporarily stay home, Venetian floods are fairly routine, several occurring every year, and residents usually take it all in stride.

Venice under Water (25 photos total)

Photographer Mike Hettwer has been kind enough to share with us some of his photographs depicting what remains of the Green Sahara. About 9,000 years ago, a very wet climate prevailed in parts of the Sahara Desert called the Neolithic Subpluvial period. Lasting several thousand years, this Green Sahara was home to many grassland and woodland animals as well as humans. While on an expedition for dinosaur fossils with paleontologist Paul Sereno in Niger in 2000, Hettwer discovered a burial area containing hundreds of skeletons from two distinct cultures, each thousands of years old - the Kiffian and Tenerian.

Green Sahara (17 photos total)

And don't miss the Hubble Space Telescope Advent Calendar 2008

Tumble Waiter

2008-12-09T11:16:00+01:00

Move slowly, destroying bulk food blocks (blocks disappear by clicking on them) as you go and you might get the order to the table in one piece. If you have to redo an order the cost of the food will be taken out of your points ... good luck!

Tumble Waiter

Critter Carols

2008-12-09T10:52:00+01:00

Send a pet e-card and let your dog or cat wish your family and friends a happy holiday season! These funny holiday greeting cards from Critter Carols feature your dog or cat singing. Just upload a photo of your pet to a wintry background, choose a holiday song, and let 'em sing, let 'em sing, let 'em sing!

Critter Carols, An ElfYourself For Your Pets!

Ice Hotel

2008-12-09T10:42:00+01:00

Ten thousand years ago, glaciers carved a riverbed and the Torne River was born. Since then, the crystal-clear, pure water of the Torne River has flowed freely along its 600-kilometer path through Lapland out to the sea in the southeast.

The entire Ice Hotel is on loan from the mighty Torne River and is a place where time stands still. When the spring comes and then finally the summer, the entire creation will once again become part of the rushing rapids coursing toward the sea.

If it is possible to build a hotel of ice in a small village 200km inside the Arctic Circle, which strikes the whole world with amazement, then anything is possible. The story of Ice Hotel is indeed a fairy tale come true.

Sweden's no 1 destination: Ice Hotel in Jukkasjärvi.

You may also like:
MegaStructures: Ice Hotel
A film by by National Geographic, 2004 - Duration 47 minutes

And don't miss to tune in live art work!

Between the 5th and 20th of December, you can follow the artist Benny Ekman crafting his Art suite "Get bad" in ICEHOTEL. Each day, Benny will switch on the web cam in his suite to share his art project with the whole world. So tune in the Benny cam, and watch ice and snow being chiseled into beautiful art.

To the Benny cam