Happy Holidays - A Potpourri of Goodness For You

It's a very LOLCat Christmas!

Seriously loyal readers, I feel genuinely bad about how little I've posted here. I'm a lot busier this year with my family, my band, work, freelance work, and everything else.

For the last month or so, I would see stories that I'd mark to post on this blog later...but later turned into later then later...and so forth.

So without further adieu, here are those stories. No fancy pictures, intros, or anything - just a potpourri of goodness for you to digest, smile and pass along to your friends.

Enjoy!

• Random Acts of Kindness Across the Country (video)
• Homeless Man Finds $3,300 Cash, Returns It (video)
• Couple Wins $11.2M Lottery, Then Gives It All Away (article)
• Down Syndrome Goes Viral, Thanks to a High School Touchdown (video/article)
• Blind man bowls a perfect game — and it's not a fluke (article)
• Driver thanks man who hit him on purpose (article)
• Reddit Funds Big Party at Toy Store for Dying Girl (video/article)
• Comedian Delivers 100,000 Compliments (article)

Now for my greatest hits for the curious. Like I did last year, here are the most popular Sublime Goodness posts of 2010 (ranked in order by page views from 1/1 to now):

1. Cute Things Falling Asleep
2. Funny Dog Videos
3. Gardening Helps Man Put Life Back Together
4. "Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World" by Israel Kamakawiwo'le
5. Maru the Japanese Cat - Famous & Funny
6. Four-Year-Old Drummer Jonah Rocks
7. Beautiful Examples of Tilt-Shift Photography
8. Are You Living Life to the Fullest?
9. Miracle on the Hudson - Chesley Sullenberger is My Hero
10. 5 Surprising Happiness Habits That Could Change Your Life

Yes, most of these made the list last year and all posts are well over a year old. Anyway, that's the power of search engine optimization I guess.

Also,, strange that "Funny Cat Videos" was #1 last year...and isn't even in the top 10 this year! Pprobably because looking at the original "Funny Cat" post tonight I noticed the video was removed from YouTube...I've re-added it tonight and will see who wins next year in the battle of funny cats vs. dogs!

"Waltz (Better Than Fine)" by Fiona Apple

I just realized that I haven't posted a Sunday Sublime song since February (!), so I am rectifying that today with a little ditty from 2005.

This overlooked gem by Fiona Apple has been on my mind recently as I just learned how to play it on the piano and I love the feel of it (actually most of the album it's on, "Extraordinary Machine," has much of the same vibe). It sounds like a Danny Elfman score or something...

Anyway, enjoy - just close your eyes and listen:



Have You Downloaded the Sublime Goodness Mixtape yet?

Miracle Mom

It's pretty rare that I read something in Parade from the Sunday newspaper worth sharing, but this story made me smile out loud. Enjoy:

When Stacy Wiparina told her family seven years ago that she was pregnant, of course they were excited.

"But then I was also kind of scared," says her mother, Patti Goodman. "Afraid for Stacy getting through a pregnancy, surviving a pregnancy."

Wiparina is tiny and fragile and always has been. She was born with a genetic disorder called Type II spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). She has never walked--she never even crawled as a baby--and she has used a motorized wheelchair since she was 7, when her arms grew too weak to push a manual chair. Because her bones have never borne weight, they are extremely brittle and easily broken. Her spine is twisted by scoliosis, and her lungs are weak and prone to infections. She spends at least a week each year in the hospital fighting pneumonia, and when she was 22 a respiratory infection kept her in a coma from Christmas until Valentine's Day. Her doctors expected her to die.

Carry a baby in that body?

"Everyone always worries about me--except me," Wiparina says. "I just knew things were going to work out."

And they did. Twice. Today, Wiparina, 36, and her husband, Rodney, have two healthy, rambunctious children--J.J., 6, and his sister, Sophie, 4--bounding around their backyard in Centerville, Ohio. "I knew I was going to be a mom," Wiparina says. "It's all I ever wanted."

> Read the full story at Parade.com

10 Inspirational Videos on YouTube

10 pivotal and inspirational moments of the last century amidst the millions of videos on YouTube. Enjoy and thanks to Mashable for compiling them.

Ranging from silent footage from the early 1900s to modern digital video capture, these clips vary dramatically from political to sporting to scientific achievements. They all have one thing in common — a strong message of inspiration.

> Check out all ten videos

Here is my favorite:



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New Yorkers Get Keys to the City...That Actually Work!

I've been meaning to post about this cool public art project I heard about in June for awhile - better late than never! How cool is this? And yes, if I lived in NYC, you better believe I would have gotten a key. Here are the details:

This summer hundreds of New Yorkers will be seen hastily undoing padlocks, ducking through creaky gates, and rifling through strange P.O. boxes. Do not be alarmed!

The city-wide security breach is part of the public art project Key to the City. Anyone can simply retrieve free keys at a kiosk in Times Square (pictured above), and those keys unlock 24 locations across the city's five boroughs, which are listed on the Key to the City website. These locations include secret gardens, hidden rooms, and tiny electrical panels. [Mayor Bloomberg mentioned that they unlock padlocks, post office boxes, steel gates and secret compartments across the city]

Since it launched last Thursday, hundreds of New Yorkers have already participated in the large-scale scavenger hunt, which borrows its name from the symbolic welcoming gesture relegated to visiting dignitaries and heads of state.

The piece was conceived by Honduran-born artist Paul Ramírez Jonas, who has worked with keys before, to symbolize ownership and civic pride. It was produced by the spectacle-specializing Creative Time and even has a key-making sponsor: Keys can be copied by visiting participating Medeco dealers around New York.

> Read more at Fast Company with pictures of locations

> Hear a story about the project at NPR

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Pizza Man Saves Life During Delivery

Serendipity? Pretty amazing story from Colorado:

A man in Lakewood [Col.] is alive, thanks to a pizza deliveryman."The pizza guy saved his life," said Kami Linn, the wife of George Linn. "Every doctor and nurse has told me that."George Linn and his family moved to Lakewood July 9. Linn was having heart problems and was hospitalized last week. He was released on Wednesday.

On Friday night, the Linn family called for pizza. About an hour later, Linn collapsed."We are just talking and all of a sudden George said, 'Oh no,' grabs his neck and collapses onto the floor," said Kami.Kami said she had just dialed 911 when the doorbell rang."I don't know why, but I open the door [to] some burly-looking dude and I was like, 'Help me, come help me,'" Kami said. "I didn't care if it was a scrawny teenager. I am like, 'Get in here,' and [the pizza guy] is like, 'I am a paramedic.'"

"He runs in and immediately does CPR on George who has gone into cardiac arrest and has died," said Kami. "He revived him and got him to breathe again."The pizza deliveryman, Chris Wuebben, recently took the job at Johnny's New York Pizza in Lakewood. His boss said Wuebben had also just recently moved to Denver and was delivering pizzas until he found a job as a paramedic. Before that, Wuebben was an Emergency Medical Technician in the military and had just returned from Iraq. The CPR Wuebben peformed worked.

"By the time he had him revived the other paramedics came and took over and said if is wasn't for the pizza guy, who I found out later was Chris, George would have died," Kami said.Linn's fight isn't over yet. He is in the intensive care unit at Swedish Medical Center. He has an infection in his lungs that is making his heart weak and beat erratically. Once that is tackled, his wife said he should be fine.

"This only happens in movies. I don't know, whatever you want to believe, but I know that things are going to be OK because that never happens," Kami said. (from ABC7News Denver)

> Watch a video of the story here.

> Read more coverage on this story from Reuters

* Thanks to my friend Jill W. for sharing this great story about her hero nephew on Facebook!

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Surprise Flash Mob for Birthday - Video

This video pretty much made my day.

It's Danish, but doesn't matter - the look of happiness on the bus driver's face is universal.

Here are the details: "On May 5th it's Mukhtar's, a bus-driver in Copenhagen, Birthday. In 2010 he had no idea that a large group of people had planned to celebrate him..."

I love the end - as if it wasn't awesome enough...Enjoy:



* Hat tip to my friends at Berrett-Koehler Publishers for sending the video.

New York City Public School Kids Sing "Man in the Mirror"

About a year ago, I posted about these awesome elementary school kids when they got attention for their rendition of Coldplay's "Viva La Vida." If you've never seen it (or any of their covers), then check out that post or more of their videos here.

Anyway, to honor the 1-year(!) anniversary of Michael Jackson's death, the PS22 Chorus did a short, moving version of "Man in the Mirror" for their graduation. Enjoy:



They even got the attention of the CBS Early show. Here they are doing a chilling rendition of "Ben.":



PS - Watch this short (& cute) TV Guide feature on the kids and their teacher here.

"All You Need is Love" by 156 countries - Video

This is one of those rare songs I've heard a thousand times but will never tire of. The message, the melody...sublime.

Anyway, I came across this cool and creative video recently that covers the song nicely. Here are the details:

On December 7th, 2009 at 1:30 pm GMT Starbucks invited musicians from all over the world to sing together at the same time to raise awareness for AIDS in Africa. In that one breathtaking moment, musicians from 156 countries played "All You Need is Love" together. Watch now, as musicians from all around the world come together and share a song.

Enjoy:



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Soldiers Coming Home - Compilation Video

It was a video like this that led me to start this blog a year and a half ago. Some truly emotional wonderful moments caught on film:



I don't talk about it much, but I was in the Army for three years after high school, stationed in Germany for my entire time. I didn't see my family for a year and a half, with seven months of that time in Bosnia. I'll never forget the the day we came back from Bosnia, fresh off our trucks standing in a gymnasium getting welcomed back by some Colonel. In the bleachers in front of us were all the soldier's wives & children, practically bouncing with joy and excitement. Even though I was single and childless at the time, I'll never forget those faces just glowing with absolute love.

I'll also never forget what it's like to embrace your family after not seeing them for 18 months!

Oh and that dog in the second clip going crazy for its owner is pretty awesome too.

Blind Man Ignores Naysayers & Becomes a Doctor

As soon as I saw the byline for this local story, I knew it was meant for me - "UW's Tim Cordes ignored the naysayers to become one of the few sightless doctors in the country."

Ignored the naysayers indeed. Cordes has led one heck of an inspiring life - on top of his achievements in the medical field and his tenacious drive, buried in the article is a mention of black belts in jujitsu and tae kwon do! Unbelievable.

Check it out:

> Read Cordes' full story at the Capital Times

Now I'm sorry I didn't know about his speech at the Madison Civics Club.

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"I Am" - Video Social Experiment

Poetry. Randomness. Makes me miss Chicago. Beautiful people inside and out.

Here is the background:

I Am is not only a film but a social experiment that took strangers in Philadelphia and asked them to finish this sentence. "I am ___."

Enjoy:

I Am from Steven Nicholas Smith on Vimeo.

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* Thanks to Gimundo for the tip on this video.

Video of Baby Hearing for the First Time

This just makes me happy in so many ways - the baby's expression is just priceless.

From Guy Kawasaki's blog:

For the first eight months of his life, baby Jonathan had never heard the sound of his mom’s voice, but a cochlear implant changed all that. Jonathan’s dad captured the touching moment on video:

Boy With Cancer Granted Wish to Turn into Superhero for a Day

Stories like this make me so grateful for organizations such as the Make-a-Wish Foundation.

Thursday was shaping up to be just another school day for 13-year-old Erik Martin, but then something extraordinary happened: Spider-Man called.

Spider-Man happens to be one of the few people who knows that Erik, too, has a secret identity — he's Electron Boy, a superhero who fights the powers of evil with light.

And Spider-Man needed Erik's help.

Erik, who is living with liver cancer, has always wanted to be a superhero. On Thursday, the regional chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation granted him that wish with an elaborate event that involved hundreds of volunteers in Bellevue and Seattle.

> Read the full story (The Seattle Times)

Watch a video:



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*Thanks to my friend Stacy for the tip on this story.

Song Created from Garden Sounds - "Gardyn"

This is pretty cool.

Sound artist Pogo created a techno song entirely from garden sounds and his mother's voice as a gift for Mother's Day. (Thanks to Gimundo for the tip). Enjoy.



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Long Lost Brothers Find They Are Neighbors

These stories never cease to amaze me. Hearing about siblings that have reunited is always fantastic...but when they turn out to be neighbors or coworkers, it's reminiscent of Hollywood. Here is the recent story of a pair of brothers in Canada:

After years of trying to find each other, two long-lost Newfoundland brothers have discovered they live just metres apart in Corner Brook.

"He was across the road. I could not believe it. That was crazy. It took me about three hours to get up the nerve to call," said Tommy Larkin, 30.

Larkin and his brother, Stephen Goosney, 29, were adopted as children by separate families. Larkin grew up in a happy family in Cook's Harbour, on Newfoundland's Northern Peninsula.

Goosney grew up a few hundred kilometres south, in Woody Point.

Both Larkin and Goosney spent years searching for their biological family but had no luck, until they received help from Newfoundland and Labrador's Post Adoption Services agency.

On March 25, the brothers found out they have been living on the same street in Corner Brook, western Newfoundland, for the past two years.

"[Finding him in] Newfoundland would have been really exceptional … but across the road is something amazing," said Goosney.

> Read the full story here at CBC News

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Surfer Paddles 40 Miles for Breast Cancer & is Joined by Whale

This story of surfer Jodie Nelson's 40-mile journey to raise money to fight breast cancer would have been amazing enough on it's own...but wait:

18 miles into the paddle, Jodie had a close encounter with a 30-foot minke whale, which are fairly rare for the waters but are known to be friendly and docile. She dubbed him Larry and watched as he blew bubbles beneath her, fluked, and showed her his belly. The whale stayed with Jodie for about an hour and a half. "It was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen in my life," she said.

According to Ray Hsieh from the Crow's Nest Boat Center, who was driving Jodie's support boat, "I've been boating and fishing all my life and have never seen anything like what I saw today. It was so strange, I actually called my friends at Sea World to ask them if it was normal, and they said, 'It's your lucky day! That whale is just playing. Sit back and enjoy the show.' So I did."

> Read more here

> Check out Jodie's site "Paddle with a Purpose" (some great videos and pictures there - you can also donate to the cause too.)

Her goal was to raise $50,000 - she's raised over $100,000 so far!

Dad Rescues 2 Year-Old Daughter After She Falls in River

As a father this story both scares the bejesus out of me and makes me happy at the same time.

A California dad dived into the frigid East River and rescued his 2-year-old daughter Saturday after she plunged 20 feet from a historic boat docked at the South Street Seaport.

Witnesses heard a splash, then a terrifying scream.

A moment later, the father, David Anderson, was racing down the deck of the four-masted Peking ship, emptying his pockets along the way.

"He jumped in like a scene out of a movie," said Eric Stringer, 34. "He was pulling things out of his pockets as he was running down the steps. He didn't hesitate."

Once he reached the pier, the frantic father flicked off his shoes and bolted over a fence. Witnesses said he then gazed into the water. His daughter, identified by sources as Bridgette Sheriden, was below the surface.

"He jumped in feet first like a pin," said Stringer, a freelance TV producer from Hicksville, L.I. "He went all the way under, and when he came up, he had her in his arms.

"She was motionless, at first. It was a couple of seconds, and then she started crying."

The crowd of onlookers gasped in relief. (NY Daily News)

> Read the Full Story & Watch a Video Recap

* Thanks to Greatdad.com for the tip on this story.

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Help Ardita = the Power of One

I came across this story in Madison's free alt-weekly and it's pretty amazing. I hope you are touched by it too and are inspired to take action. It's truly a story about the "power of one - one community, one family and one little girl."

Ardita Bilalli has been called a miracle child. After her premature birth, in war-torn Kosovo, she came to the United States in 2001 seeking medical treatment for a spinal condition. She was two years old.

After receiving treatment in Chicago, Ardita came to Madison; she's attended Elvehjem Elementary since early childhood. Now age 10 and in the fifth grade, Ardita suffers from spina bifida, among other serious health problems. She uses a wheelchair and is often in pain.

"I've cried a lot, and it's been hard," says Ardita, who over the years has had nine major operations. "There have been many surgeries, but it's fun here, and I've been with some really nice people."

Now Ardita faces what could be her toughest challenge. At the end of the current school year, she must return to Kosovo, where her future is less secure. She and her mother, Shemsije, have twice extended their visas to allow for Ardita's continual medical care, but have been denied further refuge in the U.S. They worry that Ardita may not be able to get the medications and care she needs in Kosovo.

"I just wish she could get the documents to stay," says Shemsije. "I wish there was another way."

Ardita and her mother came to Chicago in 2001 with the help of a Madison-based uncle, Gani Ahmetaj. He arranged for her to receive treatment at Shriners Hospital. Ardita's father, Sami, has remained in Kosovo, having been denied permission to leave. Says Shemsije, "My husband has tried to come and hasn't been able to."

While Ardita looks forward to reuniting with her father, the village in Kosovo to which she's scheduled to return in June has spotty electricity and unsafe water, which may exacerbate her medical conditions.

But there may be a glimmer of hope. Ardita has won the hearts of her classmates in Madison, and a group of concerned moms at Elvehjem Elementary School are taking up her cause. They have contacted lawyers and international experts and are now raising funds to ensure that Ardita has a fighting chance when she heads home.

> Read more about Ardita and this story here (The Isthmus)

Want to do something? Visit helpardita.com to learn more and/or you can also send money to:

Help Ardita Fund
Associated Bank
608-259-4275
4407 Cottage Grove Rd.
Madison, WI 53716

Age of Conversation 3 - I'm Published!

So late last year I volunteered to write a short essay to be included in the latest Age of Conversation book. What is it about?

Following on the success of the first two editions, Age of Conversation III: It’s Time to Get Busy! again kick-starts the discussion about how the global marketing landscape is changing. With over 300 of the world’s leading marketers, writers, thinkers and creative innovators contributing chapters, this collaborative work investigates the roles that community, conversation, experimentation, engagement, and collaboration play in shaping the 21st century’s economy of ideas. As businesses, public and private organizations, and individuals realize that there’s much more to social media and its impacts than first meets the eye, Age of Conversation III shows which platforms, tools, and approaches truly work. (read more)

It's pretty cool - my piece is on innovation and execution. It will be available in mid-April so stay tuned to the book's website for more news and other details.

In the meantime, check out the complete list of the other fine authors contributing to the book.

Disability Doesn't Stop This Teen From Dancing

...and defying expectations. What an amazing and inspiring story this is that I came across in this week's Parade magazine:

In Challes Reese’s dreams, her face is bathed in a spotlight as she dances freely across a stage.

In Challes Reese’s reality, she is a 15-year-old with cerebral palsy who relies on a wheelchair for mobility.

But she has long refused to let her neurological condition, which permanently impairs muscle control, block her dream of dancing.

That dream started when Challes was a little girl in Chicago, before her family relocated to Dubuque, Iowa. And it persisted when she moved into Hills & Dales, a local residential facility for young people with profound physical and mental disabilities, a few years ago.

So when the Stephen Hempstead High School dance team held tryouts last fall, the freshman, one of nearly 1600 students, steered her motorized wheelchair to the center of the floor. She was ready. A wheelchair in a dance routine? Skeptics were soon won over as Challes moved her arms and spun her chair around, “dancing” in sync with the music. It was an unconventional routine but one she performed to near perfection.

Told she was the newest squad member, Challes, a young woman of few words, unleashed a scream of joy. The dream was on.

> Read more here.

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Move Your Money Contest

For the first time, I have to make a personal appeal, but it's for a good cause.

Have you heard of Move Your Money? The movement was started by Huffington Post and is all about getting folks to...:

..move their money out of the Wall Street banks and into community banks and credit unions. Community banks are typically more conservative about how they manage their money, they’re more closely connected to the people and businesses who live near them, and they’re more inclined to make loans they know will get paid back. In other words, they have the values that more people would want banks to have.

Coincidentally, a friend and I both work in credit union organizations and play together in a band called The Disclosures. Recently a contest opened up that asked for people to submit a 2-minute video around moving your money - the only stipulation is you had to start your song with "Money in a bank. Money in a bank. Looking like a fool with your money in a bank."

Almost all the other entries are rap...but we came up with this. Enjoy!



Voting started this week and is open until Wed. March 17 - anyone with an email can vote. It's easy and only takes a second.

> VOTE FOR US HERE (#5 - the Disclosures)

Then please share our video with others and ask them to vote.

Thank you!

Separated Twins Reunite Decades Later

I love stories like this (and in my own backyard too!):

A local woman has been reunited with her twin after 52 years.The family's story starts in Japan, continues with family scattered from Madison to San Diego, Calif., and ends with twins finding each other on the Internet.

Watch the video recap:




> Read the full story here (Channel3000.com)

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It's Not All Bad - 100 Things That Are Getting Better

I came across this list at CNN.com and aside from strange listings (#2-shapewear?), it's a nice read for you pessimists:

> Read 100 Things That Are Getting Better (at Oprah.com)

Random yes, but personally I do hope those crazy fees from the big banks go away (#10) and I somehow make it to the moon before I leave this earth for good (#3).

"Major Leagues" by Pavement

I've been thinking and listening to Pavement a lot recently - one of my favorite bands of the nineties. They broke up in 1999...but are actually and amazingly reuniting this year to play some select shows (one in Chicago even!).

Anyway, they have a wealth of songs that would fit in the Sunday Sublime songs category, but it feels right to have a song off their last album included here on the blog.

Close your eyes and listen:



Have You Downloaded the Sublime Goodness Mixtape yet?

"I Met the Walrus" - Video

As a Beatles fan (and John Lennon fan too), this video is really cool to watch and listen to. Enjoy.

In 1969, a 14-year-old Beatle fanatic named Jerry Levitan snuck into John Lennon's hotel room in Toronto and convinced him to do an interview. 38 years later, Levitan, director Josh Raskin and illustrators James Braithwaite and Alex Kurina have collaborated to create an animated short film using the original interview recording as the soundtrack. A spellbinding vessel for Lennon's boundless wit and timeless message, I Met the Walrus was nominated for the 2008 Academy Award for Animated Short and won the 2009 Emmy for 'New Approaches' (making it the first film to win an Emmy on behalf of the internet).

"Let Yourself Feel" - Video

Had a long day at work? Enjoy:

let yourself feel. from Esteban Diácono on Vimeo.

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Haitian Siblings Survive Earthquake & Meet Adopted Parents

> Read More about the Haehre Family

> Support Relief & Development in Haiti through the Red Cross

10-Year-Old Raises Money to Help Poor Kids Dance

I know what you are thinking - "Is it youth week at Sublime Goodness?" No, just serendipity that I came across two inspirational stories about two activist kids in the span of a few days. Here is the caption from the AP for the photo above:

Drew Buckley, 10, a Patel Conservatory ballet student separates ballet shoes she has collected for students at Metropolitan Ministries Partnership School before a dance class Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2010 in Tampa, Fla. Buckley collected $1,700, with the help of her mother, to buy new ballet shoes for the kids, some who live in a homeless shelter, others who live in tough urban neighborhoods and take ballet as part of their physical education class.

> Read more about Drew here

7-Year-Old Organizes to Help Homeless for the Holidays

I wish I was this empathetic and resourceful when I was a kid:

Over the holidays, when 7-year-old Jonathan Slack saw a destitute woman in Chicago with a sign that said she had no place to live, he was moved to tears—and then to action. He wrote a letter to his community of Orland Park, Ill., asking residents to help the homeless, distributing photocopies around the neighborhood. Within 10 days, Jonathan’s neighbors responded with four trucks of food and toys, which he sent to Chicago’s Su Casa Catholic Worker homeless shelter. “I’d like to think it was divine intervention,” said his mother. (from The Week)

Four trucks. Did I mention he's 7? Also, I lived right next to Orland Park for many years when I was younger so that part made me happy too.

> Read more about Jonathan's story here

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"Razor Love" by Neil Young

Man I love Neil Young. I've talked about him and his music here before, but I've had his music on my mind much more lately since I've started to play guitar again. I could post one of his songs once a week for months and it would take a while to run out of good stuff.

Anyway, today's Sunday Sublime song comes from his later stuff - a slow gem off his acoustic album "Silver & Gold." The first time I heard "Razor Love" I just couldn't believe it. It just stirred something inside of me.

Close your eyes and listen:



And just for fun, here is me and my friend Chad playing it: