The Practical Radical
Stupid Pet Tricks … Google style
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Lost your watch? Your flight itinerary (do you really know where your passport is)? Want to know the what you can get $1 US in Iranian Rial (other than thrown in jail)?
Here are some Google style stupid pet tricks, enjoy!
What time is it??
Status of my flight??
How much is my money worth in Iranian Rial?
Thanks to lifehacker.com for these …
Who do Mama Grizzlies vote for?
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Obviously Mama Grizzly bears vote for Sarah Palin. Why? Because Sarah comes from Alaska, and so do grizzly bears and their mamas. Alaska is also close to Russia, which is called the “great bear”, and Sarah stares them down when she wakes up in the morning. She is fearless. She knows.
So … she can speak on behalf of grizzly bears.
Democrats don’t know grizzly bears. They probably have only seen them in the zoo. They haven’t lived in Alaska, and probably have NEVER seen Russia. But, Democrats have lefty friends in Hollywood who have deep pockets like that Star Wars guy who can make mean videos about our Mama Grizzly. They can get free wookie or ewok suits, which kinda look like grizzly bears.
So, vote for Sarah Palin, one angry Mama Bear.
Tags: Alaska, Democratic Party (United States), Grizzly Bear, Hollywood, humor, politics, Republican, Sarah Palin, United States
Guest Blog: What happened in South Africa shouldn’t just stay in South Africa
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The following is (my first!!) guest blog from two quite cool people – Kevina Power and Ron Harris (aka Os12). I will leave it at that and let them explain the rest …
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Guest Blogger: Kevina Power
It was late fall 2005 when we left Kenya for South Africa to host 2 World Urban Cafes (WUCs); one during the 1st African Hip Hop Summit, and one during the monthly Black Sunday event in Soweto. As I write this lots of memories are flooding back… WUCs, Hip Hop, Friends, Soweto… it all feels like a dream, a damn good dream.
First let me explain some background; how did we end up in Kenya? South Africa? To many other places far far away? Well, back then, when I was considering working with Doug on the World Urban Forum project of the Environmental Youth Alliance, I remember him trying to explain his vision to me… it was on a napkin I think, sitting in some cafeteria in downtown Vancouver. If you know Doug, you know he speaks from a place where he calls ‘the bleeding edge’ and indeed this World Urban Café plan of his was certainly that. You see, UN Habitat, the UN agency charged with ‘improving the lives of slum dwellers’ was going to host their 3rd Session of the World Urban Forum in our city, VanCity, the next year.
When Doug asked to meet with me, I thought it would be just another long lunch with Doug, talking about our lives, our city, our vision for the future. Little did I know that this lunch would change me forever. Jumping forward, about 8 months later, here I am, living in Nairobi, Kenya, a place I had not even knew existed a year before, working with UN Habitat and the Environmental Youth Alliance on the World Urban Forum, specifically implementing this WUC Concept in the lead up to the 2006 Conference in Vancouver.
Tags: Africa, Emmanuele Jal, Hip Hop, k'naan, kenya, music, Nairobi, os12, south africa, soweto, UN-HABITAT, word urban forum, world urban cafe, world urban forum, Youth
Support the Census Detainees!!!
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Never have so many owed so much to so few!
Free the census detainees!
Nairobi Reflection #4 – Up with Hope! Down with Poverty
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This is an update from the Up with Hope folks working in Kenya.
Some brief background – the genesis of Up with Hope was the Environmental Youth Alliance‘s project with the Soweto Youth Group in Kibera, a slum in Nairobi with a population of almost 1 million people. Three EYA folk, interns Sean and Justin and manager Karun, worked with SYG headed by Sammy Ataly to build a waste management/recycling centre.
The Kibera Waste Management Centre
Spicing it up on Youtube
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If you haven’t seen the shirtless old spice guy videos, they are hilarious. Here are a few of the video responses to stars and other prominents as collected by Chad Catacchio of The Next Web.
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Ryan Seacrest
Tweeted on June 30 to Shirtless Old Spice Guy, and he responded today…
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Ashton Kutcher
Tweeted today in support of Kevin Rose, and Shirtless Old Spice Guy responded…
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Rose McGowan
Tweeted today in response to Alyssa Milano’s tweet, and Shirtless Old Spice Guy responded…
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Ellen Degeneres
Tweeted on July 1 to Shirtless Old Spice Guy, and he responded today…
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Justine Bateman
Tweeted today to Shirtless Old Spice Guy, he responded…
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Apolo Ohno
Tweeted on July 8 to Shirtless Old Spice Guy, who responded today…
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Kevin Rose
Tweeted on June 30 to Shirtless Old Spice Guy, who responded today…
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Biz Stone
Tweeted today, and Shirtless Old Spice Guy responded…
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Jason Calacanis
Tweeted today and Shirtless Old Spice Guy responded…
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Guy Kawasaki
Tweeted today, and Shirtless Old Spice Guy responded…
Tags: apolo ohno, ashton kutcher, ellen degeneres, guy Kawasaki, humor, jason calacanis, justine bateman, kevin rose, old spice, rose mcgowan, ryan seacrest
Somewhere (way) Over the Rainbow
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I am excited by mother nature’s bounty as much as the next gal or guy. Now, I may be more restrained in my response, but the feeling is still there.
Yet, I feel that maybe I need to express myself more forthrightly – let go a bit – give a bit of shout, if not a scream.
A case in point. There’s this guy who saw a double rainbow – one of mother natures true mysteries – close to (but not quite) as amazing as the Northern Lights/Aurora Borealis.
So what? Well it seems that not only were the rainbows amazing, but so was his response. Basically he lost it – in awe – tongue-tied. And for his grand expression of awe, and the videotaping and subsequent release of that video on YouTube, his video went viral, and he started up a whole new business.
Here is the initial video:
Here is the follow-up news story:
and here is his garage band double rainbow song!:
So has does this link to my concern over my diminutive emotions? Well, I saw the same (if we put physics and time aside) damn rainbow in Ecuador 13 years ago!
My way-cool Double Rainbow in Ecuador - 1997
Perhaps if I had the same response I could have been rich! famous! Clearly YouTube did have something to do with it, but perhaps a few copied video tapes, and bam! I’m rich and famous and would be having someone else write silly blog posts like this.
So, I promise from here on in to get in touch with my emotions, my inner awe. Believe me you, you’ll know when I see a double rainbow next time around.
p.s. this is my favorite rainbow song – Israel Kamakawiwo’ole’s Somewhere Over The Rainbow.
Tags: Aurora Borealis, CWY, double rainbow, ecuador, Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, Northern Lights, Somewhere Over The Rainbow
REPOST: The yellow face, it burns us. Stay in your dank cave and guard your precious.
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Some mistakes .. sorry.
Just read an article in Time Magazine making a balanced argument regarding whether this heat wave in Eastern North America is climate change. PLEASE people, its climate change, OK? Yes, there is the most recent headlines regarding some dutch scientists who juiced some data on sea level rise in Holland (they reported that 55 percent of the Netherlands is below sea level, when its only 26 percent). In their defense, scientists are scared s#itless of about what’s going on as much as anyone else. They goofed. It doesn’t discount the REAMS of data suggesting otherwise.
I digress. Maybe humor will get people to buy in. The place to go for that … the Onion.
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repost from The Onion
Gollum
‘Keep-Cool’ Tips
Much of the U.S. remains in the grips of a record heat wave. Here are some handy tips to help you stay cool and safe in this dangerously hot summer weather:
- Purchase a Celsius thermometer to enjoy summer temperatures that rarely exceed 35 degrees.
- Grow a coat of dense fur. While this may sound far-fetched, the fur will actually insulate your skin and protect it from the heat.
- The yellow face, it burns us. Stay in your dank cave and guard your precious.
- Seal all doors and windows, then flood your home with refreshing Lipton iced tea.
- Stephen King’s The Tommyknockers will chill you to the very bone.
- If you leave pets in the car with the windows rolled up, be sure to stop by the parking lot every 30 minutes or so to baste them.
- Remember: Heat rises. Fall into a deep well.
- Put out any fires in your home to reduce heat.
- Under no circumstances should you pay heed to emergency requests from power companies to limit air-conditioner use. Run your air conditioner at full blast until you brown out the entire region.
- Keep your dentures, hip brace, diapers and wig in the freezer when not in use.
- Heat is a manifestation of infrared radiation, the low-frequency part of the electromagnetic spectrum that is emitted by aliens. To prevent exposure to these Venusian mind-control waves, wrap head in tinfoil.
- Keep cool with delicious Frosty Fritz-brand frozen ice-cream treats.
- If possible, cause the sun to collapse into a singularity, or “black hole.”
- Avoid “hot” programming like Cinemax After Dark.
Doug Ragan
practicalradical
The Practical Radical 
