Apple released its new iMac today. You should go check it out. The price is not too bad - $1899 for a 20-inch 1.8Ghz, 160GB. If I had money to burn I’d order one in a heartbeat! Some people did mention that it looks ugly. Well, it does look kinda “industrial” with sharp edges, totally different design concept from the previous lampshade iMac (which I think looks really cool). But the cool thing about this new iMac is the cleanliness of it - just a rectangle and a stand - hell it looks more and more like a laptop, a flat-screen monitor with a CPU!

I WANT I WANT!

Yes, that’s my new nickname that I gave myself. HAHA. Anyway, I’ve created a place to store my video collection at geekparrot.com. It’s lamely called “bernie’s video collection” for lack of anything fancy and innovative. Do check it out.

We had our lunch break at the bird store again today, me and Jessica. The guy there recognized us, and he knew we weren’t there to buy any birds, just to play with them. I saw my baby yellow-sided was still there. Oh boy, I’m so tempted to just get the little guy - he’s soo cute. He was in the cage with his cage-mate, and possible clutchmate, also a yellow-sided.

As I was observing them huddle close to each other, Jess called me over to see the new bird that were there for boarding - it was a Pineapple Mutation Green Cheek! It was awesome! I’d never seen one in real life, so it was a special experience. Now I’m torn between either getting a yellow-sided or a Pineapple green cheek. I also found out that Pineapple mutations are created by breeding a yellow-sided green cheek with a cinnamon green cheek. They have more yellow on their sides compared to a cinnamon. How interesting. I might go into breeding green cheeks and their mutations in the future, coz I really do love green cheeks.
Here are some pics I took of the green cheeks I saw in the bird store. The first three are that of the Pineapple (blond head), and the last one is my little Yellow-Sided baby.

I have a sudden craving for curry puffs, don’t know why. Just thought I’d share. heh.

Clover has been acting up this morning, probably because I’d switched his food bowls, so his regular bowl is now in another corner of the cage, and I filled his old bowl with new pellets - Harrison’s - which is supposed to be good (ORGANIC!). When I took him out for a morning greeting he bit me real hard, like he was chiding me for not feeding him food the way he wants it. Geez. Anyway, I figured I might’ve moved too quick to change his diet, so I poured his regular food back in, over his new ones. He’s a happy camper. Didn’t get much time with him this morning, so I’ll see if he did eat ANY new pellets when I get back tonight.

Although I’m not the “stocks and shares” kind of gal, its not unnatural to feel excited about Google’s IPO tomorrow. The company has placed a price range of $108 to $135 for the shares - kind of expensive eh? I would think it’ll be around $80. We’ll see. I’m just guessing.

Read CNET News Feature on Google

We were at the bird store last Thursday, and they had a pair of new Yellow-sided Conure babies for sale. I just fell in love with one of them - the little guy is probably about 8 weeks old, his legs aren’t strong enough to stand properly, and he kept chirping like he wanted to be hand-fed or something. The cool thing is that he fell asleep in my hands! If I had the resources, I’d get him then and there!

Dang I’m still thinking about him. I know I’d wanted to get a Caique, but this guy is just soooooo cute. I’ll bet he’ll make a great buddy for Clover.

So now my wishlist for a 2nd bird is:
1) Caique
2) Yellow-Sided Conure
3) Dusky Conure

Don’t want a Nanday anymore. They are much too loud.

Remember I was whining about my hummingbird feeder not being popular, and the next day, I saw ONE of those little guys feeding there? Well, the past few days had been hummingbird fest over at my place. From what I saw during the weekends, there are probably 2 to 3 hummingbirds in total, and they come by the feeder at least 3 times a day. I still can’t identify what species they are, got some video though, and will be posting here soon. The pics I got weren’t clear enough.

In addition to the hummingbird feeder, we’ve got a pair of mourning doves, a family of sparrows, and some other birds that visit our seed feeder on a daily basis. The doves are so cute, and I think they are mating.

I spoke too soon. Yesterday evening when I got home, I spotted two hummingbirds at the top of our California Pepper Tree. Then suddenly, 1 flew down and fed, right there from my feeder! It was a special moment, but since I had Clover on my hand, I couldn’t really grab a camcorder, so I just stared stupidly and in awe as the hummingbird had his fill. His friend, who was still on the top of the tree, wasn’t as brave. After a about 2 minutes, little hummingbird flew away.

I saw the little guy this morning, again, as I watered the lawn. This would be the closest I ever am to a hummingbird. I stood there motionless as he had his breakfast. Clover was inside his cage, wondering what the hell turned me into a mummy. It’s a bird with invisible wings, Clover! Say Hi! hehe … This guy (the hummingbird) is fearless! I look forward to seeing him again, and hopefully I’ll be prepared to get a pic.

There’s ONE hummingbird that visits my backyard every so often, so last weekend, I bought a hummingbird feeder. Mixed up the “juice”, and hung the feeder close to my wild bird feeder area. This part of my garden has become a bird feeding station.

So far, its been 2 days, and … NOTHING. My mother-in-law, who stays home during the day, said she did see him flutter by, but didn’t take to the feeder. Maybe its placed incorrectly? I probably should try putting it away from the other birds - he might be shy.

Aren’t hummingbirds just the sweetest looking things?

Today is Singapore’s National Day, though by the time of this post, the days probably came and went in Singapore hehe. We’ve just started the day! Well, anyway, just wanted to wish Singapore a happy 39th year of independence.

Brian brought his new bird in today. Her name is Maggie, and she’s a half-moon conure. Very cute, young, and loves to bite. She’s just trying to figure it all out I suppose. Here is a picture of her, and you can see more at Brian’s Blog:

After the wave of visitors we had the past few weeks, last weekend went by uneventfully, and we didn’t really go anywhere - just stayed at home, went grocery shopping, farmer’s market - that was all. I did take the opportunity to spend more time with Clover, and made some videos of him - check out the media section of cloverville.com.