Bits 'n' Pieces: Camas man hops a ride to "MythBusters"

Top from left: “MythBusters” co-host Jamie Hyneman and Bobby Wood. Bottom from left: “MythBusters” co-host Adam Savage, Daniel Wood and Jordan Thompson.

It typically takes people 45 minutes to get the hang of the Self-Balancing Unicycle, a motorized unicycle created by Camas entrepreneur Daniel Wood of Focus Designs. But Adam Savage, co-host of the Discovery Channel show "MythBusters," took to it right away.

"He did great," Wood said. "He's been unicycling since he was a kid. He didn't really have any learning curve."

Wood, along with brother Bobby Wood of Battle Ground and Vancouver videographer Jordan Thompson, travelled to San Francisco in January to meet Savage and Jamie Hyneman, another "MythBusters" host, and bring them one of 30-year-old Wood's unicycles. Wood's invention could appear on "MythBusters," he said.

Wood said Savage had contacted him after seeing a video he put on YouTube of himself riding a Self-Balancing Unicycle.

"He's geeky. He's a big kid. He likes to try new things," Wood said.

Wood designs and builds the unicycles himself. They retail for $1,890 and are sold through Focus Designs' Web site, focusdesigns.com. Wood hopes to lower the price as production ramps up.

Unlike traditional unicycles, riders do not peddle Wood's creation. It's battery-powered, which takes care of forward and backwards movement. So all people have to do is twist their bodies as they ride to balance from side to side.

"It's like a trainer for a regular unicycle," Wood said.

Vancouver painter finds inspiration overseas

Downtown Vancouver's Gallery 21 is set to close next month, and painter and founding member Barbara Van Nostern isn't sure what's next.

"That's what I'm wondering," she said. "Everybody asks me. I have no idea yet."

Van Nostern, 75, is considering exhibiting her work at another downtown Vancouver art gallery or in Portland.

"I have an awful lot of work. I don't want it sitting around," she said.

Van Nostern of Vancouver is doing something with some of that body of work. She's preparing for a September show at the Camas Public Library's Second Story Gallery. The exhibit will include paintings from a trip to Poland that Van Nostern took in September.

While in Poland, she sketched, painted, looked for inspiration and took photos for future paintings.

"I have enough pictures to last me a lifetime or two," she said.

Van Nostern was amazed by the architecture in Polish cities such as Krakow and Krapkowice. She said that the cities weren't bombed during World War II. As a result, some of the buildings date back to the 14th and 15th centuries.

Before the trip, Van Nostern admitted to having second thoughts.

"I thought, 'I don't know if I really want to go,' but am I ever glad I did."

Bits 'n' Pieces appears Mondays and Fridays. If you have a story you'd like to share, call Features Editor Elisa Williams, 360-735-4561, or e-mail elisa.williams@columbian.com.