Paul Salopek is already a well-traveled journalist — a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner who has spent most of the past two decades roaming across Africa, Asia, the Balkans and Latin America.
This, apparently, has not sated his wanderlust. So now he's in a dusty village in Ethiopia's Rift Valley, ready to launch a seven-year, 21,000-mile journey on foot that will take him from Africa, across the Middle East and through Asia, over to Alaska and down the Western edge of the Americas until he hits the southern tip of Chile.
Why?
"The short version is I'm interested in narrative, I'm interested in storytelling," Salopek, speaking by satellite phone, tells Morning Edition host Steve Inskeep. "After jetting around the world as a foreign correspondent, after flying into stories, after driving into them, helicoptering in, even, I thought about what it would be like to walk between stories. Not just to see the stories we were missing by flying over them, but to understand the connective tissue of all the major stories of our day."
Read more at NPR
Good news. Cool Stories. Humor.
Showing posts with label cool. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cool. Show all posts
Friday, January 11, 2013
Saturday, January 5, 2013
Ukranian dolphin trained to crawl on flat surface
A dolphin trainer in the Ukraine has taught one of his wards to do something quite unusual.
Gosha - a 15-year-old Black Sea bottlenose dolphin - can now leap out of the water and crawl up to 10 metres on his belly.
Read more and see video at the Times of Malta
Gosha - a 15-year-old Black Sea bottlenose dolphin - can now leap out of the water and crawl up to 10 metres on his belly.
Read more and see video at the Times of Malta
Thursday, December 27, 2012
Blind dog Abby finds her way home in depths of Alaskan winter
When their blind eight-year-old dog went missing from their remote Alaskan home in a heavy snowstorm, the Grapengeter family felt sure they'd never see her again. But after more than a week of searching in temperatures as low as minus 40C, Abby, a brown-and-white mixed-breed whom the Grapengeters rescued from an animal shelter as a puppy, turned up safe and sound at the home of a local vet.
Read more at the Independent
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
Muslims And Catholics Come Together For Christmas Donations In London, Ontario
Catholics and Muslims were able to put their religious differences aside for the sake of Canada's poor this week.
According to the London Free Press, members of the London, Ontario, Muslim mosque helped the Society of St. Vincent du Paul, a Catholic organization, gather enough food to feed more than 100 families during the Christmas season.
Read more at the Huffington Post
According to the London Free Press, members of the London, Ontario, Muslim mosque helped the Society of St. Vincent du Paul, a Catholic organization, gather enough food to feed more than 100 families during the Christmas season.
Read more at the Huffington Post
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
26 Moments That Restored Our Faith In Humanity This Year
No excerpt on this one...just go check out the article at Buzzfeed. :)
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Landlord gets into the Christmas spirit by sending tenants letter dropping rent for the festive period
A small act of Christmas kindness on the part of a Los Angeles landlord has spread across the Internet - restoring some people's faith in humanity.
A picture posted by Reddit user Mikeoley shows a letter he and other tenant's received telling them that because it is the Holiday Season, he is lowering their rent.
Explaining that the generous gesture is a tradition, the landlord known as Joel offers to 'deduct $70 from your regular rent for the month of December and perhaps use those monies to purchase a gift for someone special in your life.'
Read more at the Daily Mail
A picture posted by Reddit user Mikeoley shows a letter he and other tenant's received telling them that because it is the Holiday Season, he is lowering their rent.
Explaining that the generous gesture is a tradition, the landlord known as Joel offers to 'deduct $70 from your regular rent for the month of December and perhaps use those monies to purchase a gift for someone special in your life.'
Read more at the Daily Mail
For Salvation Army, there's gold in them thar kettles
Modern coins go "plink" when they drop into a Salvation Army kettle. But gold is a softer metal; it goes "plonk." And in a Christmas tradition that's 30 years old this year, the gold coins are once again starting to plonk into the iconic red kettles.
It happened Nov. 9 in Bettendorf, Iowa, when a 1/4-ounce gold coin worth about $500 was dropped in a volunteer's pot outside Schnuck's Market. It was nestled in a cardboard setting with cellophane wrapped around it, so it stood out when the kettle was opened, said Holly Nomura, development director for the Salvation Army's Quad Cities Corps.
Then on Tuesday, outside a Sam's Club in southwest Houston, someone — no one but the donor knows who — left a 1-ounce gold coin worth almost $2,000 in the pot, wrapped inside a $1 bill. Attached was this note: "A child is born, Jesus! Merry Christmas!"
Read More at NBC News
It happened Nov. 9 in Bettendorf, Iowa, when a 1/4-ounce gold coin worth about $500 was dropped in a volunteer's pot outside Schnuck's Market. It was nestled in a cardboard setting with cellophane wrapped around it, so it stood out when the kettle was opened, said Holly Nomura, development director for the Salvation Army's Quad Cities Corps.
Then on Tuesday, outside a Sam's Club in southwest Houston, someone — no one but the donor knows who — left a 1-ounce gold coin worth almost $2,000 in the pot, wrapped inside a $1 bill. Attached was this note: "A child is born, Jesus! Merry Christmas!"
Read More at NBC News
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Couple marry after wrong number phone call
Elizabeth Bennett and Brian Woodward tied the knot at St Peter's Church, Ickburgh, Norfolk, on Saturday, nine years after their chance conversation.
Mrs Woodward said he was "really rude" when they first spoke but he called back the following day to apologise.
"A couple of weeks later he turned up at Thetford train station and hasn't been away since," she said.
Read more at the BBC
Mrs Woodward said he was "really rude" when they first spoke but he called back the following day to apologise.
"A couple of weeks later he turned up at Thetford train station and hasn't been away since," she said.
Read more at the BBC
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Dog adopts abandoned tiger cubs
A dog called Tally has adopted three tiger cubs after their mother abandoned them after giving birth at Sochi zoo in Russia.
Vets advertised on the internet that a feeding dog was being sought. Tally now treats the cubs as if they were her own puppies.
See the video report at the BBC
Vets advertised on the internet that a feeding dog was being sought. Tally now treats the cubs as if they were her own puppies.
See the video report at the BBC
Driving school for dogs in New Zealand
A charity in New Zealand is teaching rescued dogs how to drive a car.
The canine driving school is aimed at proving how intelligent the animals can be.
Monty the giant schnauzer is among the novice drivers who have learned to control the brakes, gears and steering wheel.
See the video report at the BBC
The canine driving school is aimed at proving how intelligent the animals can be.
Monty the giant schnauzer is among the novice drivers who have learned to control the brakes, gears and steering wheel.
See the video report at the BBC
Monday, December 3, 2012
Is Laughter The Best Medicine?
Need a good laugh? Here’s one to tickle your funnybone: giggling keeps your heart stronger, might lower your blood sugar levels and even enhances your friendships. Researchers studying the health benefits of laughter agree: unlike stress and worry, laughing doesn’t hurt us, physically or emotionally—and it may very well cure what ails us.
Nor does it take long for our systems to respond to something funny. Less than half a second, in fact, is all the time our brains need to see or hear a joke, “get” it, and tell our bodies that it’s time to smile or laugh. Laughter truly is as spontaneous as we’ve always believed it to be.
Read more at Yahoo!
Also check out Weboffunny.com for some laughs!
Nor does it take long for our systems to respond to something funny. Less than half a second, in fact, is all the time our brains need to see or hear a joke, “get” it, and tell our bodies that it’s time to smile or laugh. Laughter truly is as spontaneous as we’ve always believed it to be.
Read more at Yahoo!
Also check out Weboffunny.com for some laughs!
Saturday, December 1, 2012
Thursday, November 29, 2012
The biggest sculpture in history: Artist who wrapped up the Reichstag plans spectacular £212million creation in the middle of the desert to rival the Pyramids
 |
| Artwork: The proposed 'Mastaba', a 490ft tall sculpture constructed from oil barrels and conceived by Christo to be built in the middle of the Abu Dhabi desert |
The artist will spend £212m building the 'Mastaba', the world's largest permanent sculpture, from over 400,000 multi-coloured oil barrels in the middle of the desert near Abu Dhabi.
The flat-topped pyramid will be 492ft high, just taller than the Great Pyramid of Giza and three times the height of Nelson's Column.
Read more at the Daily Mail
Monday, November 26, 2012
Harris Teeter customers get free food after computer glitch
Harris Teeter officials gave free groceries on Sunday after a computer crash snarled lines at the Morrocroft Village location.
The store experienced a “minor glitch” in its system for about an hour and a half Sunday morning, Harris Teeter spokeswoman Danna Jones said. The glitch prevented store employees from processing transactions.
SouthPark resident David Coburn arrived around 11 a.m. at the grocery store for his weekly shopping. Nearly an hour later, Coburn headed to the checkout lane to discover a large line had built up.
For the next 40 minutes, he stood in line with other customers as Harris Teeter workers served them samples of turkey and ham subs, pimento cheese crackers and sushi rolls.
Read more at the Charlotte Observer
--- Nice how the store took a bad situation and made it into something good.
The store experienced a “minor glitch” in its system for about an hour and a half Sunday morning, Harris Teeter spokeswoman Danna Jones said. The glitch prevented store employees from processing transactions.
SouthPark resident David Coburn arrived around 11 a.m. at the grocery store for his weekly shopping. Nearly an hour later, Coburn headed to the checkout lane to discover a large line had built up.
For the next 40 minutes, he stood in line with other customers as Harris Teeter workers served them samples of turkey and ham subs, pimento cheese crackers and sushi rolls.
Read more at the Charlotte Observer
--- Nice how the store took a bad situation and made it into something good.
Saturday, November 24, 2012
Heartwarming photos of children and their new parents celebrating National Adoption Day
On National Adoption Day, courts across the country come together to finalize thousands of adoptions of children from foster care.
New parents, Dennis and Katie Whitaker with their 3-year-old son, Soul, are just one of hundreds of new families that made it legal Friday as they celebrated National Adoption Day, a collective national effort to raise awareness of the more than 100,000 children in foster care waiting to find permanent, loving families.
Read more and see the pics at the Daily Mail
New parents, Dennis and Katie Whitaker with their 3-year-old son, Soul, are just one of hundreds of new families that made it legal Friday as they celebrated National Adoption Day, a collective national effort to raise awareness of the more than 100,000 children in foster care waiting to find permanent, loving families.
Read more and see the pics at the Daily Mail
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)