Character of the Day: Indonesia’s Seven-year-old Mountain Climber

It must take some character and stamina for a 7 year-old boy to climb such steep mountains that even adults find difficult.  Good luck with Arya's climb on Russia's Mt. Elbrus on 23Jul12!

from WeirdAsiaNews

Extract from Indonesia’s Seven-year-old Mountain Climber


Arya Cahaya Mulya Sugiarto, 7, from Pemekasan, Madura, East Java, has an unusual mission.  He climbs mountains simply because they are there.


Arya has already climbed 14 mountains and has set his sights on the world’s highest peaks. His achievements include: Mount Semeru in Java in August 2010 when he was just 5, and then Mount Rinjani in Lombok in 2011.


July 23 is National Children’s Day, and Arya will celebrate it by attempting to conquer Russia’s Mt. Elbrus, the highest mountain in Europe. He plans to top even himself to mark Universal Children’s Day on November 20 by scaling Imja Tse, better known as Island Peak, an even higher summit in the Himalayas.

Happy Encounters: Poo for Tea from China's National Treasure, the Giant Panda

Here is something new and interesting.. using Panda's as organic fertilizers for tea.  Would you want to have a sip of that?

YA'AN, China (Reuters) - China's national treasure, the giant panda, will become even more precious if one businessman succeeds in using their dung to grow organic green tea he intends to sell for over $200 a cup.

An Yanshi, an entrepreneur in southwest China, grows the tea in mountainous Ya'an in Sichuan province using tons of excrement from panda bears living at nearby breeding centers.


The first batch of panda dung tea will be sold in lots of 50 grams that will cost some 22,000 yuan ($3,500) each, a price An said makes it the world's most expensive tea. Most people use about 3 grams of tea per cup.


An defended the steep price, saying he would channel profits from the initial batches into an environmental fund. Future batches would be cheaper, he added.


"I thank heaven and earth for blessing us with this environmental panda tea," the 41-year-old former teacher and journalist said at a weekend event to promote the tea.


"I just want to convey to the people of the world the message of turning waste into something useful, and the culture of recycling and using organic fertilizers."


Dressed in a panda suit to promote his tea, An invited a dozen or so guests to help hand-pick the first batch of tea at his plantation at the weekend.


The fertilizer made the tea a health boon, An said, because pandas only eat wild bamboo and absorb only a fraction of the nutrients in their food. And pandas make plenty of fertilizer.


"They are like a machine that is churning out organic fertilizer." An said. "They keep eating and they keep producing feces.  Also, they absorb less than 30 percent of the nutrition from the food, and that means more than 70 percent of the nutrients are passed out in their feces."


After brewing the first pickings, An described the tea as fragrant and smooth. Some of his guests, however, were not impressed.


"It's sold at such a sky-high price, perhaps this is just hype," said 49-year-old Li Ximing. ($1 = 6.3227 Chinese yuan)

Happy Encounters: Great-great grandmother breaks the paragliding record on her 101st birthday

Can you imagine yourself still paragliding when you're 101 years old? Well Mary Allen Hardison did it on her 101st birthday, breaking the Guinness World's Record as the oldest woman to paraglide tandem. Well impressive!

(From Reuters) A great-great grandmother in America was declared the oldest woman to paraglide tandem on Tuesday after taking to the air to celebrate her 101st birthday.

In confirming the feat, Guinness World Records said Mary Allen Hardison's historic flight near Salt Lake City on September 1 last year was "pushing record breaking to new heights."

Hardison, of Ogden, Utah, said she decided to go paragliding after her 75-year-old son Allen took up the sport.

"Just because you are old doesn't mean you have to sit on your duff all day," Hardison told Reuters.

Hardison's flight was cheered on by her great-grandchildren, who have witnessed other such birthday adventures: On her 90th birthday, Hardison rode all the adult rides at Disneyland, and for her next she plans test out a mountain slide in Utah.

She invited other centenarians to break her new record.

"I heard of one fellow that hadn't walked for quite a while and he decided when he heard about me he would walk again. So he got up and started walking again," she said.

"He said if she can do that, I can do this. If I can inspire some of the older people to get up and do something it's well worth it."

Happy Song of the Day: I Believe I Can Fly

I Believe I Can Fly - by R. Kelly

I used to think that I could not go on
And life was nothing but an awful song
But now I know the meanin' of true love
I'm leanin' on the everlasting arms

If I can see it then I can do it
If I just believe it, there's nothing to it

I believe I can fly
I believe I can touch the sky
I think about it every night and day
Spread my wings and fly away
I believe I can soar
I see me running through that open door
I believe I can fly, I believe I can fly
I believe I can fly

See I was on the verge of breakin' down
Sometimes silence can seem so loud
There are miracles in life I must achieve
But first I know it starts inside of me oh

If I can see it then I can be it
If I just believe it, there's nothing to it

I believe I can fly
I believe I can touch the sky
I think about it every night and day
Spread my wings and fly away
I believe I can soar
I see me runnin' through that open door
I believe I can fly, I believe I can fly
I believe I can fly

Hey 'cuz I believe in me
If I can see it then I can do it
If I just believe it, there's nothing to it

I believe I can fly
I believe I can touch the sky
I think about it every night and day
Spread my wings and fly away
I believe I can soar
I see me runnin' through that open door
I believe I can fly, I believe I can fly
I believe I can fly

Hey if I just spread my wings
I can fly
I can fly
I can fly, hey
If I just spread my wings
I can fly
Fly eye, eye

Quote of the Day: Gratitude

Quote of the Day: Gratitude is one of the sweet shortcuts to finding peace of mind and happiness inside. No matter what is going on outside of us, there's always something we could be grateful for. - Barry Neil Kaufman


Before the end of a hectic day, take 10 minutes of quiet moment just before you sleep to reflect upon your day, so you can appreciate everything that has happened around you.  By doing so over time, you'll realize you would have more special days than having just lived for another day.

Happy Encounters: Smile to Connect with People Around You

Came across this video from Random Acts of Kindness featuring Claire Lemmel on how important it is to SMILE ;) 

When Claire Lemmel saw that people in her San Francisco neighborhood weren't connecting as they walked by each other on the streets, she decided to put kindness in action ... and her smile on a giant poster! Her kindness and smile are now inspiring hundreds of people on her daily walks.  To find out more, check out the video on YouTube from here!  

Happy Encounters: Man Takes Flight with his Bird-like Wings

This looks well cool and impressive!

Man Flaps Android-Powered Bird Wings, Flies with Wii

Imagine strapping on a pair of giant multicolored wings, except they’re not actually attached to your arms — you control them without actually touching them, waving your hands up and down in the air, birdlike, causing the wings to move in tandem. Before you know it, you’re up, up and away, rising into the sky like the lovechild of a peacock and an albatross, soaring over the terrain without so much as a single jet turbine or propeller blade.

The guy in the video up top — a Dutchman named  Jarno Smeets with mad engineering skills — claims to have done exactly that at a park in south Holland this last weekend on March 18. And all he used to pull it off, in addition to a pair of giant, flexible wings built out of kites and fortified by carbon windsurf masts, was a Wii controller and an HTC smartphone.

Happy Song of the Day: Remember When - Carl and Ellie from UP

This is such a beautiful song.  Would like to dedicate this song to all couples who's been married for 25+ years and those who believe in true and long lasting love.

http://youtu.be/TOmZ66lIzJA 

Remember When - by Alan Jackson


Remember when I was young and so were you
And time stood still and love was all we knew
You were the first, so was I
We made love and then you cried
Remember when

Remember when we vowed the vows and walked the walk
Gave our hearts, made the start and it was hard
We lived and learned, life threw curves
There was joy, there was hurt
Remember when

Remember when old ones died and new were born
And life was changed, disassembled, rearranged
We came together, fell apart
And broke each other's hearts
Remember when

Remember when the sound of little feet was the music
We danced to week to week
Brought back the love, we found trust
Vowed we'd never give it up
Remember when

Remember when thirty seemed so old
Now lookin' back, it's just a steppin' stone
To where we are, where we've been
Said we'd do it all again
Remember when

Remember when we said when we turned gray
When the children grow up and move away
We won't be sad, we'll be glad
For all the life we've had
And we'll remember when

Remember when
Remember when

Happy Encounters: Blair Bangerter Built a Replica of the 'Up' House in Salt Lake City

Wow.. someone has actually built the house from the disney/pixar movie 'Up'. 
  

Up, Up and Away

Up house in real life

Up house in the movie

The sherbet-colored structure sits at the intersection of Meadowside Drive and Herriman Rose Boulevard here, but you don’t need directions to find it. Just look for the swarm of helium-filled balloons that the developer tied to the chimney of a house that has a gabled roof, scalloped siding and a garden hose neatly coiled next to the porch — all details taken from “Up,” the 2009 hit about an old man and his flying abode.

Bangerter Homes, which specializes in custom-built dwellings, is marketing the 2,800-square-foot reproduction as “The Disney/Pixar ‘Up’ House,” using stills from the film and the official logos of Disney and its Pixar Animation Studios subsidiary. The listing price: $400,000.

So far, serious bidders are scarce. But over the last few weeks about 27,000 people paid $10 each for a peek inside, with most of the proceeds going to charity.


The man behind the design is Blair Bangerter, a son of Norman H. Bangerter, who served as governor of Utah from 1985 to 1993. The younger Mr. Bangerter first saw “Up” two years ago. A longtime animation buff, he said that he was thrilled that the film gave a starring role to his other passion — houses — and became preoccupied with replicating the colorful Victorian in real life. 


Continue here to find out more on how Blair negotiated a deal with Disney/Pixar. 

¶

Character of the Day: Lucas Jatoba Gives 30 Gifts to 30 Strangers on his 30th Birthday

Have been to Australia and it really is a great place with great people who are fun, friendly and down to earth.   This is a little like 'pay it forward'.  If you like this, why don't we all do something special and meaningful on our next birthday to show our appreciation to people around us ;)

From Lucas' Flickr Album

Would you give 30 gifts to 30 strangers on your birthday? (Herald Sun)


THE old adage is that it's better to give than to receive - so for his 30th birthday Lucas Jatoba set out armed with 30 presents to give away to 30 strangers.


Jatoba, who arrived in Australia just seven months ago from his native Brazil, recorded his acts of generosity on camera and watched as the video notched up more than 100,000 views in a week.


"When I approached people, at first moment they thought it was a bit weird," he said. "But after I started to explain why I was doing it they were very receptive, warm and happy.  I think everyone loves it when they see that there are people in the world who care about their happiness."


He told news.com.au the gifts given out on the streets of Sydney included books, cameras, T-shirts, vouchers, DVDs and a Wallabies rugby ball, and were to show his gratitude to others.


"We all share the same home, planet Earth, so we need to treat everyone as brothers, not enemies," he said.

30 gifts to 30 strangers in Sydney from Lucas Jatoba on Vimeo

Happy Encounters - The Big Lunch 2012

This seems like a really good idea to connect with people around you to create a happier, closer and friendlier community.  It's a great opportunity to get to know people who you may walk past every day that seem like great people, but you just never really had a chance to get to know them, as we are always either too busy with our lives or it just seems too awkward to chat up with some stranger out of our comfort zone.  Share this with your friends and create your own big lunch in your area.

About, street party, community event, neighbours - The Big Lunch 2012

The Big Lunch is a very simple idea from the Eden Project. The aim is to get as many people as possible across the whole of the UK to have lunch with their neighbours in a simple act of community, friendship and fun.

Last year on Sunday 5th June the best part of two million people took part in 2012 The Big Lunch falls on the same weekend as The Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations on Sunday 3rd June and as announced by Buckingham Palace The Big Jubilee Lunch will be a part of the main programme of events over the central weekend of the Diamond Jubilee. A record number of people are expected to take part. Why not be one of them!

A Big Lunch can be anything from a few neighbours getting together in the garden or on the street, to a full blown street party with food, music and decoration that quite literally stops the traffic.

Since starting in 2009, thousands of Big Lunches have taken place in all kinds of communities across the UK and the best part of a million people get involved each year.

Why get involved?

Having a Big Lunch with your neighbours can be great fun! Here are just a few reasons why it's good to sit down and eat with your community:

• To stoke up community spirit – we call it ‘human warming’.
• To make the third of us who live alone feel happier, closer and friendlier.
• To show how local people can change a neighbourhood for good, forever.
• To conquer our natural shyness by opening our curtains, doors and minds and looking out for one another.
• To share stories, skills and tools, so we all end up richer in every sense.
• To discover common ground across age, class, faith, race and the garden fence, and to remind ourselves that charity begins at home, or at most, a couple of doors away.

Below are some responses from 2011 Big Lunchers… 

• 89% said it encouraged sense of community
• 89% thought it brought generations together
• 84% felt it made them feel better about their neighbourhood
• 86% said it was a day to remember
• 69% identified a stronger sense of community after their event
• 74% created new relationships which would like to be continue
• 87% of organisers meeting new people at the event
• 95% of organisers say The Big Lunch has been good for their community
• Over half of the people who attended said after their event they feel less isolated

Character of the Day: World's Strongest Boy - Liam Hoekstra

Here's this amazing boy with superman powers.  Wonder what he'd be like when he gets older with such strength!

Extract from mLIVE on 3-year-old Liam Hoekstra makes a very strong impression.

from mLIVE

At first glance, Liam Hoekstra appears to be a fairly typical 3-year-old.  In short, he's strong as a bull.  But when Liam picks up two five-pound dumbbells and waves them around like stuffed animals, or does rapid-fire sit-ups, it becomes abundantly clear that he has an extraordinary gift.  Liam's amazing strength, the result of a rare genetic condition called myostatin-related muscle hypertrophy, has made him something of a global media darling.

Myostatin-related muscle hypertrophy, or muscle enlargement, is an extremely rare genetic condition. It promotes above-average growth of the skeletal muscles without harming the heart or causing any other negative side effects.

For Liam, the result was having 40 percent more muscle mass than other children his age. He is terrifically strong, quick as a rabbit, has the metabolism of a gerbil and almost no body fat.  Liam's strength is not evident until he participates in an activity that requires raw power, such as sit-ups or chin-ups.

"He's amazing at doing sit-ups because his abdominal muscles are so strong," said his mother, who is a physician's assistant. "When he does sit-ups you can see how he is stronger than other kids his age."

Happy Encounters: Miracle Fruit

Found this interesting article from New York times on a miracle fruit (known as Synsepalum dulcificum)  that makes everything sour tastes sweet!


"CARRIE DASHOW dropped a large dollop of lemon sorbet into a glass of Guinness, stirred, drank and proclaimed that it tasted like a “chocolate shake.”  Nearby, Yuka Yoneda tilted her head back as her boyfriend, Albert Yuen, drizzled Tabasco sauce onto her tongue. She swallowed and considered the flavor: “Doughnut glaze, hot doughnut glaze!” 

They were among 40 or so people who were tasting under the influence of a small red berry called miracle fruit at a rooftop party. The berry rewires the way the palate perceives sour flavors for an hour or so, rendering lemons as sweet as candy.

The miracle fruit, Synsepalum dulcificum, is native to West Africa and has been known to Westerners since the 18th century. The cause of the reaction is a protein called miraculin, which binds with the taste buds and acts as a sweetness inducer when it comes in contact with acids, according to a scientist who has studied the fruit, Linda Bartoshuk at the University of Florida’s Center for Smell and Taste."

Quote of the Day: Beauty, Truth and Love

For every beauty there is an eye somewhere to see it. For every truth there is an ear somewhere to hear it. For every love there is a heart somewhere to receive it. - by Ivan Panin

Happy Song of the Day: Just a Kiss

Here's another song that I would like to share with you by MattyBRaps.  It's about believing in yourself and following your dreams. 

Happy Song of the Day: Just a Kiss by MattyBRaps


[Verse 1]
So I hope you've realized
Greatness lies deep inside
and I hope you choose to fly up through the clouds into the sky
Born to sore - born for more - you and your dream collide
and in that moment I hope that you never compromise
and you won't let what people think be your recovery
Cause I can see you're at the brink of discovery
People talking - keep on walking - no keep on running strong
You are the reason we're believing - it's where you belong
This is the season to achieve in - look how far you've come
Enjoy the journey cause it makes the person you become
I see a destiny inside of you that's pure as gold
So show the world something that we've never seen before

[Chorus]
I hope you fly and your dreams never fall down
Kiss the sky as you fly above all now
Only a moment is all it takes
It doesn't happen any other way
Climb the mountain that stands for the taking
I can see you're a star in the making
This is the reason you were made
Cause it always ends in "Yesterday"
So today is the only thing worth fighting for

[Verse 2]
I hope you know how truly special you already are
Cause you were born to change the world - it's who you simply are
The only person who can make you quit is one familiar
The only one holding you back is standing in the mirror
So I hope you run with it - grow with it - go with it
Really get it in your spirit
Not everybody wants to do what it takes to get there
But know that the sky is the limit

[Chorus]
I hope you fly and your dreams never fall down
Kiss the sky as you fly above all now
Only a moment is all it takes
It doesn't happen any other way
Climb the mountain that stands for the taking
I can see you're a star in the making
This is the reason you were made
Cause it always ends in "Yesterday"
So today is the only thing worth fighting for

Happy Song of the Day: Forever and Always

Found this amazing rapper kid who is just 9 years old from youtube.  He's been doing his own music videos since 7.  Can't even remember what I was doing back when I was 7 years old.  Really do admire his dedication!

  
Happy Song of the Day: Forever and Always by MattyBRaps feat. Julia Sheer


Here's an extract of the song that I really like:

Dream what you wanna dream

Go where you wanna go

Love who you need to love

Know what you wanna know

Think what you’re gonna think

Say what you’re gonna say

Be who you wanna be

Forever and always