The Sound of Music - A Surprise Public Performance in Train Station

Because I came across this interesting viral video from two completely different sources -Authentic Change Coach & the email newsletter for Berrett-Koehler Publishers - it seemed like a serendipitous post for this blog.

I'm not going into the many reasons and analysis of why this is so popular (as the Huffington Post did very well). It's just four minutes of fun and strange goodness. I like the looks and the spontaneity of the strangers in the train station watching the whole thing (Antwerp Central Station in Belgium). Don't you wish something like this would happen every day on the way to and from somewhere?

Enjoy:

Fingers Breakdancing Video

I don't know what to say about this. Just watch it - it's oddly compelling and unique. I have to say the moonwalk is a nice touch. Enjoy:

Sketchbook Project Enourages Anyone to Create Art

I found out about this too late to participate, but I love it anyway and enjoy looking at the sketchbooks. Here is the deal from Art House Co-op in Georgia:

We send you the sketchbook, you make the art. Then Art House is taking all the sketchbooks on a 6 city tour to galleries and museums across the U.S. The goal of the exhibition is to encourage anyone to create artwork and build a collective of sketchbooks made by artists from all over the world.

The theme of the project is "everyone we know". This is just a guideline. Interpret it however you want.

The entry period is over and about 2,800 artists from around the world sent in sketchbooks by mid-February.

> Click here to see a list of artists, sketchbook pictures and much more.

I love this idea because it's simple, creative and engaging to almost anyone. Even though it's too late, I'm inspired to spend the rest of the evening on the couch with my moleskin journal...

Check out the CNN Video for a neat recap:



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8 Year-Old Girl Saves Self, Grandmother by Taking Wheel

I love stories like this for a few reasons. Wait, here is the deal:

CBS11 in Dallas / Forth Worth has the story about an 8-year-old girl who helped steer a car when her grandmother passed out.

Emma Hicks, 8, of Cleburne, a town south of Forth Worth, is being given a national award for doing a good deed. While she crashed her grandmothers SUV through a fence and into a shed, it was a crash that may have saved lives.
There's still damage visible at the site where Emma Hicks ride home from school ended. "On the way home my grandma, she blacked out," the little girl explained.

Emma's grandmother, Jeannie Mendoza, has to depend on her granddaughter's memory. "I turned on the corner and I told her [Emma] I felt funny and I was going to pull over," Jeannie recalled. "I pulled over a little bit and I don't remember anything after that."

Jeannie had a seizure while driving with her granddaughter. Emma said, "And her foot was on the gas pedal and then we were going." The two were racing down the road and heading toward danger.

Something had to be done, so little Emma took action. "I had to undo my seatbelt and I had to get in the front seat and I had to steer the truck. And then we came to a turn and I couldn't make it."

Until the incident, Emma's only driving experience was on her grandfather's lawnmower and tractor. It was a rocky ride for the courageous little girl. "So we went through a metal fence, a shed, and we hit some wood. And then the car stopped, but the doors were jammed on her side and my side. And so, I opened the window and I went to go get help." (from CBS News)

First, Emma Hicks saved herself and her grandmother...awesome. When faced with danger, she acted courageously.

More importantly will remember this event for the rest of her life when faced with perilous situations. She also inspired many around her, including those not around her...like me!

Watch the CNN Video:



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"Sunday Afternoon" by Christopher Morris

A Very Special Sunday Sublime Song...

Yes, that's me, circa 1998. Here is the back story for this song.

After high school I joined the Army and was sent off to Germany for three years. I had basic knowledge of the guitar thanks to my musician dad, and would play sometimes in my room in the barracks after long days of defending our country (ha!). Anyway, during my 2nd year there, I had the sense enough to buy a cheap four-track recorder to play around with and record some of the sketches and songs that were mysteriously coming out of my head. I recorded a lot and continued to do so even after I left the Army and returned to Chicago - about two solid years of recording music (it all ended quickly when I started college...).

Anyway, most of the songs were sappy love songs, but one Sunday I was messing around and recorded a 3 (or 4?) part instrumental on guitar. I tried adding words but it didn't work (although you can still hear one phrase...). My guitar playing isn't the greatest (I'm aware of my own limitations and am fine with it), but I think the feel of the song still holds up and fits nicely in the category of "sublime goodness." Enjoy.

Close your eyes and listen:



Click here to download the mp3.

Have You Downloaded the Sublime Goodness Mixtape yet?

World Malaria Day

Serendipity. I love when it happens. Just when I was leaving work today pondering what sublime goodness I should post about, I received an email from Monica Goldenberg on behalf of the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health Global Program on Malaria which this week is partnering with Global Health Counsel, Population Services International (PSI) and VOICES for a Malaria-Free Future to commemorate World Malaria Day, this Saturday, April 25th. She was letting me know the details...and could I spread the word? Heck, yes!

Here is the deal - please tell everyone:

Malaria is the leading cause of child mortality in Africa, claiming 1 million African children under the age of five every year. Malaria also poses a tremendous risk to the health and well-being of pregnant women – an estimated 50 million pregnant women are exposed to malaria each year.

For World Malaria Day 2009, the organizations mentioned above have teamed up to share the story of success in Rwanda, where the country is making remarkable progress against malaria, reducing malaria-related deaths by more than 60 percent.

The partnership Web site, http://www.malariafreefuture.org/rwanda, highlights the crucial role of political commitment and support of Rwandan leaders, community engagement, U.S. support and the President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) in making this success possible.

Along with basic information and how to take action, you’ll also find included at the site:

• Background on the successful Rwandan program via insecticide-treated bed nets, treatment guidelines, training community health workers and improving health facility care
  
• Videos, Images and Podcasts

Thanks for passing on Monica and I'm glad that there are people like you to raise awareness of this important issue. I encourage all of you to check out the site and take action.

Watch the photo slideshow and audio interviews with key actors in Rwanda's fight against Malaria:

Postcards from Yo Momma

As I was reading this week's New Yorker, I came across a great piece on a website I've never heard of before - "Postcards from Yo Momma: A repository of modern day maternal correspondence." Naturally, a BRILLIANT idea for a website. It's so popular, the editors of the site even have a book out now. They post amusing letters/emails from mothers...mostly shared by their children.

Here are their all-time top rated letters (warning - some spicy language!). My favorite is the Facebook one:

Don’t Passive-Aggressive-Smile-Face-ME

Mom: So when we come to Sydney can we stay at yours?

Mom: Hello?

Me: Oh. Sure. Well, actually there are a number of awesome hotels just a two minute walk from my house. I’ve just emailed you a bunch of links. Have a look! Am happy to book any of them for you. But, yeah, of course you are welcome to stay at mine, if you really want to.

Me: Mom?

Mom: You were welcome to stay in my uterus for nine months, and then my house for 17 years. But I understand, a week at your apartment might be a bit … much.

Me: Don’t you passive-aggressive-smile-face-ME, woman.

Mom: Fuck off. Love you - M.

Subject: Get me out of here!

Surprise, I am writing you an email.

I NEED HELP AND SOON, BEFORE I STARVE TO DEATH !!!!

I am guessing that you are wondering how come I’m doing this — it’s just because I am locked into my computer room and cannot get out. I was trying to put a door knob on the door and got started, but the thing went completely closed as I was trying to see if it was going to fit — and now here I am having to stoop so low as to write an email to you to see if you could call someone to come get me out. My phones, of course, are all in the other room. I thought that perhaps you could call Beverly and have her and Howie come over and get me out. If you happen to have Tami’s number then call her.

Anyhow, can you get me out of here. I guess I’ll just play games on the computer until someone lets me out of here. Send me an email to let me know you are doing this for me.

Mom, Dad and Facebook: A Dangerous Combo

Mom: How do I unfriend on Facebook?

Me: What, you only have like 8 friends, who do you want to get rid of.

Mom: That’s really none of your business, and I have 40 friends thank you very much.

Me: That’s right, Dad has 8 heheh

Mom: Not for long!

Sometimes a Snake is Just a Snake

Backstory: My mom was a kindergarten teacher in a bad part of town.

Mom: It was a rough neighborhood. The kind of place where the men would come to the playground and let their snakes out of their bags.

Me: Ew! Mom that’s so gross.

Mom: I know. I hate snakes.

Me: Wait, that was a euphemism for something right?

Mom: No! They had real snakes! We had to go check the playground before recess to make sure they weren’t slithering around by the swings or anything.

> Read More at Postcards from Yo Momma

New York City Public School Kids Sing Coldplay's "Viva La Vida"

This is the most wondrous video I've seen in a while. I love the song "Viva La Vida" by Coldplay - so much so, that I have one copy in my car and one in my house because my kids love it too. This version, done by New York City's PS22 Chorus (all public school fifth graders) is just gorgeous.

What you will notice though, is not just how great it sounds, but how so into it they are! They are shaking their heads as they are singing, smiling, just totally in the moment and their love of the song practically glows from them.

Their rendition even got the attention of Coldplay, who mentioned it in their fan newsletter - see it here.

Without further ado, enjoy the PS22 Chorus version of "Viva La Vida:"



Learn more about the PS22 Chorus and watch more of their videos.

Learn about keeping music in schools at Support Music and VH1's Save the Music.

Comedian Louis C.K. says "Everything is Amazing, But Nobody is Happy"

This video of the comedian Louis C.K. on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" has already become a viral sensation and with good reason - it's terribly funny and profoundly true. In about four minutes, he "challenged whether the avalanche of new technology makes life better. He mocked society's anger if an Internet connection is delayed briefly. Or a cell phone doesn't snap into action. Then he marveled at how people complain about a 40-minute runway wait on a cross-country trip that, at one time, took months to complete -- and many didn't finish the journey alive. (from the Capital Times)"

People need to slow down. Relax and reflect on just how damn good most of us have it. I love technology (my job depends on it!), but I don't take it for granted.

Without further ado, here is the hilarious clip - Enjoy and pass it on:



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"Deep Forbidden Lake" by Neil Young

Oh Neil Young...where do I begin? I've listened to Neil since I was a baby - in fact, I recently looked in my baby book and at three-six months, my mother recorded that my favorite album at the time was "After the Goldrush." I still love that album.

His music always moves me...and those close to me - the first time I played 1972's "Harvest" for my wife, she was blown away - she never heard the album before until then. My father of course is the one who turned me onto him when I was very little. My daughters are just starting to uncover his music.

Anyway, one of my favorite Neil Young songs, "Deep Forbidden Lake," is a slow gem from his unreleased album "Homegrown," which was supposed to be sort of a sequel to "Harvest." The song itself was too good to shelve, so it was released as part of a greatest hits album in the late seventies. It's Neil at his early 1970's finest - acoustic and sublime. I could listen to the steel pedal guitar all day...

Close your eyes and listen:



Have You Downloaded the Sublime Goodness Mixtape yet?

Introducing....The YouTube Symphony Orchestra

This is so cool! I love music and dig the idea of bringing talented musicians (professionals and amateurs talented people) together from across the world to perform at Carnegie hall...by harnessing the power of social media/Web 2.0. Here is the deal:

Musicians from 33 countries brought together by YouTube performed as a symphony orchestra at New York's famed Carnegie Hall Wednesday night.

The New York Daily News said the performers earned a standing ovation from the sold-out crowd assembled to see the orchestra, whose members auditioned through YouTube and met for the first time five days ago. The group of nearly 100 musicians performed pieces by Bach, Brahms and Mozart at the concert.

"It's been like a summit conference and a scout jamboree, with elements of speed dating," conductor Michael Tilson Thomas, who directed the orchestra, told the Daily News.

Thomas quipped that the new way to get to Carnegie Hall is to "upload, upload, upload" rather than the age old adage of "practice, practice, practice."

The mix of professional and amateur musicians, who range in age from 15 to 55, were selected by judges representing the world's greatest orchestras, the newspaper said. (from UPI)

Here is the video of the performance (60 minutes...leave it on for a great soundtrack for your day - classical music is a nice change). Act One:



Act Two:



This is my favorite part - "The Internet Symphony" Global Mash Up. Initially, YouTube called for professionals and amateur musicians of all ages, locations and instruments to audition for the YouTube Symphony Orchestra by submitting a video performance of a new piece written for the occasion by the renowned Chinese composer Tan Dun. Here is the piece as selected and mashed up from thousands of video submissions from around the globe:



> Learn more and watch/listen more at the YouTube Symphony Orchestra channel

Susan Boyle, Singer, Shocks World on Britain's Got Talent

You no doubt have heard this story, which is a great one, a true underdog one - but just in case...it's worth repeating! First, here is the clip heard around the world.

Here is the background:

Less than a week ago, she was just another 47-year-old Scottish virgin.

Now, more than 13 million YouTube views later, Hollywood agents and talk-show bookers are jostling for a few minutes with Susan Boyle, a stocky, beetle-browed woman who would not ordinarily rate a second glance on the street.

It may all add up to only a momentary big deal, but the case of this previously unknown amateur singer is a compelling study in how viral video can lather its subject into frothy international stardom within hours.

On Saturday's season premiere of " Britain's Got Talent," a U.K. show in which " American Idol's" Simon Cowell is one of the judges, Boyle was, from the moment she stepped onstage, perhaps the most unlikely star since Marie Dressler, the frumpy 1930s movie heroine.

Boyle told producers that she was a virgin. "Never been kissed," she confided on-camera. "Shame! But it's not an advert." She invoked as her idol the British musical theater star Elaine Paige. When she stated her age and the audience groaned, Boyle ground her ample hips and blurted: "And that's just one side of me!"

A close-up showed Piers Morgan, another judge familiar to U.S. viewers from "America's Got Talent," wincing.

The crowd seemed to be expecting another colorful character with no discernible talent, in the style of former "American Idol" contestant William Hung.

Amanda Holden, the program's third judge, e-mailed on Thursday: "When she came onto stage the audience immediately started booing and hissing her, based purely on her appearance. She looked a little odd [and] was a bit nervous and searching for her words."

"We were laughing at her," Morgan said in a phone interview Wednesday. "She was someone who seemed to be completely deluded."

Until she started to sing. Boyle, who had some limited previous vocal training and then mostly in church choirs, shrewdly picked "I Dreamed a Dream," a heartbreaking ballad about unfulfilled dreams from the hit musical "Les Misérables." A few bars into the song, as her earthy, pleasing voice took command and soared over the auditorium, the crowd could be heard letting out a collective gasp, then starting to cheer raucously.

Boyle's is already the most-watched clip this month on YouTube, more than doubling the total views of its runner-up.

Both performers are classic underdogs, nonthreatening people who, in pursuing long-held dreams, managed to triumph over easily understood disadvantages. While many Americans normally wouldn't be fascinated by a previously obscure contestant on a British TV show, that story is familiar and has particular resonance in this country.

"Americans can be very moved by this sort of thing," Morgan said. "She is Rocky Balboa, if you will."

> Read more at the LA Times

Watch a CNN recap video:

No Stopping Five-Year-Old Girl with New Legs

Wow. When you see this video and see this British girl walking fast, it will move you. It also fills me with such awe to see Oscar 'Blade Runner' Pistorius (a paralympian) sprinting around the track. Here is the background:

Five-year-old Ellie Challis is facing life with an extra spring in her step. She has become the youngest person in the world to be fitted with flex-run feet

Ellie, who lost her hands and lower legs to meningitis as a toddler, had spent the last two years walking on conventional prosthetic limbs. But she complained that she struggled to keep up with her twin sister Sophie.

Her parents Paul and Lisa contacted the world-renowned prosthetic limb centre Dorset Orthopaedic, and managing director Bob Watts agreed to make a junior version of the carbon-fibre blades.

Mr Watts said: 'We were worried that she wouldn't be able to balance properly on them, but she has made amazing progress.

Mr Challis, 45, said: 'Ellie can walk twice as fast on these new legs - it really is amazing to see. She is so full of determination.'

The legs cost £10,000 for a pair and will need to be replaced every two years. Mr Watts added: 'We didn't know if it would be possible to make some small enough.

'But now Ellie is the youngest in the world to have such legs - and there is no holding her back.'

> Read More about Ellie at the Daily Mail

My favorite reader comment: "God bless her. Something to think of the next time you are complaining of aches and pains or your lot in life."

Watch the CNN video & see Ellie for yourself:

Another Hero Captain - "Captain Courageous"

A few months later, we have reason to celebrate another American Captain - Richard Philips. A selfless and heroic soul. Here is the scoop from the Early Show:

Appearing on CBS' The Early Show, Captain James Staples, a friend and former classmate of Richard Phillips at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, said the willingness of the captain of the Maersk Alabama to risk his own life to protect his crew did not surprise him at all.

"It's an amazing feeling to know that Richard's now safe. I can't even explain how happy I was when I heard this great news," Staples said.

In a move that surprised the pirates, crew members of the U.S.-flagged ship had put up a fight Wednesday when pirates boarded the cargo vessel. Somali pirates had become used to encountering no resistance when hijacking vessels in search of million-dollar ransoms.

The ship had been carrying food aid bound for Rwanda, Somalia and Uganda when the ordeal began Wednesday hundreds of miles off Somalia's eastern coast. As the pirates clambered aboard and shot in the air, Phillips told his crew to lock themselves in a cabin and surrendered himself to safeguard his men.

At the beginning of the tense standoff, the Maersk's crew actually held one of the pirates hostage, hoping to exchange him for their captive captain. But Phillips opted to be taken away by the bandits so that his crew would be freed.

Early Show anchor Harry Smith asked Staples about their experience and training at the Merchant Marine Academy and how it prepared Phillips for the hazardous region around the Horn of Africa.

"Well, surely he was taking all the precautions that he's been trained to do to keep the ship out of harm's way," Staples said. "It's just that every day at sea is a different day. And it just was probably a situation he was under and he just handled it marvelously."

Staples called his friend "Captain Courageous." [emphasis mine]

> Read more about what happened here.

Watch a video recap:



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"It's Oh So Quiet" by Bjork

It's funny. I actually had another Bjork song picked out to post about today, but because I put on a Bjork DVD of all her music videos on to watch it with my little daughters, we ended up watching this song over and over and over....never even making it to the one I wanted (which was more of a melancholy tune anyway). They absolutely loved it - singing and dancing themselves - and I forgot how much I liked this song too.

So here you are. It's a fun video directed by the wonderful Spike Jonze. I'll just save the Bjork song I wanted to post for another time!

Close your eyes and listen:

Have You Downloaded the Sublime Goodness Mixtape yet?

'Hero' Mail Carrier Delivers for Woman in Need

It's nice to pick up my local newspaper and see a story like this (on the front page too no less!).

Mail carrier Courtney Spaude [who above has a striking resemblance to film star John C. Reilly] is a hero in the eyes of Madison police and an 84-year-old woman whose home is on his downtown route. When the woman didn't unlock her screen door so he could get to her mailbox for five days. Spaude alerted police, who credit him with saving her life.

> Read the full story at the Wisconsin State Journal

What I like about this story is that Spaude isn't just going through the motions with his work - he's made connections and took a risk (being seen as intrusive) for the better. Too often many of us punch in and punch out mindlessly so to speak - like being on a treadmill for forty hours a week. Spaude took a chance when it really mattered. Thank you Mr. Spaude from your Madisonian neighbor!

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Duo's Secret Acts of Kindness for a Month

This story is so inspiring and what I love about it is that it's simple, yet profoundly moving. I am vowing to try and do some "secret" acts of kindness very soon. With just a little money and some covert ingenuity, you can make someone's day.

Dubbed the "Helping Hands Project," a dynamic duo (Karla & Amy) from the organization Hope Heals performed secret acts of kindness for the entire month of March in their community. It included such things as leaving umbrellas on a rainy day (with a note), care packages for the homeless, notes of encouragement on random cars, buying meals for people in the car behind them, paying for strangers' gas, and much more. Read the month-long recap at their blog here.

Watch the video from CNN:



*Hat tip to DailyGood for the story.

Toddler Caught by Two Men After 40-Foot Fall from Window

Talk about being in the right place at the right time...and having the courage to do something wonderful:

Two men were being hailed as heroes by police on Monday for catching a toddler who fell 40 feet from a home's third-story window.

Robert Lemire told the North-Andover (Mass.) Eagle-Tribune newspaper that he was talking on his cell phone Sunday evening outside a pizza shop in Lawrence, about 25 miles north of Boston, when he saw the toddler dangling from a window across the street.

The 45-year-old father of two bolted across a busy street, where he met 23-year-old Alex Day, who had been inside the home at a Bible study meeting. Together, they caught the 18-month-old before she hit the ground.

> Read more at MSBNC

Watch the video recap:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

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*Thanks to happytweets for the tip on this great story!

An Autistic Boy & His Dog

April is National Autism Awareness Month and last Thursday was World Autism Awareness Day. Here is a touching story about a young autistic boy and his autism assistance dog. It's really special and I'm grateful that Justin has such a great friend.

This also made my day because my wife and I are just about to apply to start training seeing eye dogs.


> Learn more about autism

"Concrete Sky (Acoustic)" by Beth Orton

Beth Orton is another one of my favorite female vocalists. Needless to say, her voice is sublime - at once fragile, yet strong and almost always beautiful. Many of the songs on her last few albums wouldn't be out of place on this blog. But if I had to pick a natural fit, it would be a live and acoustic version of "Concrete Sky" from The Other Side of Daybreak. I love the original version of the song (& encourage you to check it out here), but there is something a little bit more unbelievable and moving in the stripped down version.

Close your eyes and listen:



Have You Downloaded the Sublime Goodness Mixtape yet?

Fiancé Drops Engagement Ring Off Brooklyn Bridge....But Saves the Day.

What a wild story. What I like about it is that it's like a zany ending of a romantic comedy come to life! Don't be put off by that picture (which I think captures the moment perfectly!) - there is a happy ending :)

Don Walling planned the day with the precision of a classroom lesson. He would propose to his girlfriend, Gina Pellicani, on the Brooklyn Bridge’s pedestrian walkway. His family would be looking on and his sister-in-law would videotape the whole thing.

But at the moment of truth – with ring in hand – disaster struck, and it wasn’t because Gina refused to say, “I do.” Walling dropped the ring through a crack in the pedestrian bridge and into traffic on the Brooklyn Bridge roadway below.

“I got on one knee, proposed and it just flew out,” Walling said. “I watched it fall through the crack on the bridge, right between the wood planks.”

But he didn’t let his shock sway him for long. Walling swung into action.

“I kissed her, said I was sorry and told her I am going to get that ring back,” Walling said.

The groom-to-be jumped onto the bridge's roadway and began looking for the ring. Miraculously, he found it, with the help of his family and fiancée looking on from above.

Pellicani couldn’t wear the ring because the band bent in the fall, but the diamonds were intact -- not bad for falling onto traffic on the Brooklyn Bridge.

The ring is being repaired and will be restored to its former luster, but Walling said the next time he gives it to his fiancée, it will be in the safety of his home. (from NBC New York)

Watch a video recap from NBC:

Are You Living Life to the Fullest?

This evening, I was reading a story about a widowed professor who found inspiration in his wife's life and wondering whether to post it. I went back and forth - Doesn't everyone know to live life to the fullest? Carpe Diem and all that, right?

I think we all do know that, but it's hard to keep that thought in focus. For me, it's easy to confront my own mortality when reading stories like the widowed professor - it ironically brings that idea of living life to the fullest... to life. I'm hoping this little post will help remind you too. Tell your family and friends how much they mean to you...and show them if you can which is even better.

Here is the professor's story:

Jason Hans believes everyone should live their life in a way they would be able to inspire other people, a lesson he learned through his wife’s murder in 2002.

“If you were to die tonight there would be a lot of people sad, but would they be inspired?” Hans, a UK professor, asked the crowd as part of a Final Word lecture series.

“I’m happy to talk about her any chance that I get,” he said.

Hans’s wife, Irina, who he was with for six years, was shot in Washington, D.C., while walking home, in what was later determined to be an armed robbery.

When Hans was told of his wife’s murder, he found it difficult to realize that life went on without her.

“I was shocked that the sun came up,” he said. “I was a wreck for about five or six days. One night I just walked around the city to all the places we had been.”

Hans not only believed he lost a wife, but he also lost the children they had planned for. Hans and his wife had already planned their children’s names, Masha and Sasha.

One thing that helped him recover from her death was he felt that it had become his responsibility to be the caretaker of her legacy.

Hans learned from his wife that life should not be taken for granted and to make the most of what you have before it’s gone.

He said Irina had once written, “Lying in my dark, cold, spooky grave I will think: Was there a meaning for all that?”

Katie Lamping, a nursing sophomore, said the event gave her a positive message about living your life to the fullest.

“I thought it was good and it was touching,” she said. “It makes you think about your life and the people that are special to you.” (from the University of Kentucky's Kentucky Kernel)

Dad Delivers Baby During Flood Using Google

This is so great. I often wonder, "What would I do without the internet?" Well, in Jordan's case below, it truly was pretty essential!

A Hendrum, Minn. man used nothing but instructions from the Internet to deliver his new baby girl.

With the Red River growing higher and higher on Sunday and her basement flooding, Natalie Peck went into labor.

A midwife was not able to get to the home on time so the task was left up to dad. He turned to the Internet for instructions and delivered a health baby girl named Margaret.

"I think its something guys can relate to if all else fails follow the instructions and this was one of those times I was going to follow the directions to a T," laughed new father Jordan Peck.

The family's not sure when or if they can return to their home. For now, the new family are staying with friends. (from KSTP TV)

Two things I like about this story:

• Having a baby is amazing. Having it during a flood at home delivered by yourself is all caps AWESOME.
• Bonus points for using Google to find out how to deliver your child.

Watch the story via CNN: