Bubble Boy Gone Festive

With 11 days left until Christmas I feel a festive post is appropriate. Ladies and gentlemen, I am proud to introduce you to Ben Erkerson aka "Snowglobe Boy". The man who holds the world record for the longest time spent in an inflatable snowglobe.

By logging onto http://snowglobeboy.mckinney.com, people had access to live audio and video being streamed. In addition, there were chat applications and blogging to interact with "Snowglobe Boy" himself!

Ben's wife said, "Ben loves Christmas more than any 5-year-old" and was not surprised about this record attempt. It started off as an idea for an eco-friendly digital holiday card and quickly turned into something quite buzz-worthy!

So just how long did Ben last in that inflatable snowglobe you wonder? ... 78 hours and 30 minutes! After completion, this is what he had to say:

"Thank you everyone for making this world record happen. It was so much fun spreading holiday cheer to everyone around the world!" - Source

I hope everyone has a great holidays and spreads some Christmas cheer! :) Just like you, Darren!

Zeitgeist 2010: Year in Review

So good I don't even mind if it's too wide for my template. 2010 in a nutshell, take it in. (Double click the video to open in separate screen)

Make it Rain

Welcome to the new and improved Fact Snacks! I hope you like the new banner and template. A special thanks to my main man Phil for helping creating this new look, you rock don't ever change!

I wanted to take this time to thank all who follow my blog even during its puke green themed phase. If you have any suggestions or interesting Fact Snacks feel free to send them my way! Here is an interesting video loyal FactSnacker Simone brought to my attention about lung fish.

Not only can it take oxygen directly from the air, but at times of drought it can stay dormant for years waiting for water! Check it out...

Carrying the World on Your Shoulder

When working at the oneofakind Show this weekend in Toronto I stumbled across this booth that really intrigued me. The company is Joy Apparel and the product is the Joy T-Shirt.

You design and purchase your Joy T-Shirt on www.joytshirt.com by choosing a person and a shirt to put the face on. Each visage (face) represents a real person and the tag will have information on the stranger (ie name, where he/she is from, goals in life). The idea is that

"when you wear your shirt you are encouraged to think about that person and how your everyday actions can affect others and the world we live in"

Then, once you bought your Joy T-Shirt, you can then upload your visage to the website. It will then be hand drawn and put onto a shirt for others around the world to wear next to their hearts. How cool is that?!

As stated by the people at Joy Apparel:

It is about taking an active stance against racism and discrimination while being an advocate for peace and equality... because in someway or another, we are all connected!

Forbes' Money Honeys

When Forbes published its list of highest-earning women in Hollywood, it was no surprise that the lovely ladies above made the cut. The top ten women earned $835 million between June 1, 2009 - June 1, 2010 (compared to the top men who earned $1.2 billion). That being said, Oprah Winfrey-who made $315 million- out earned everyone male or female! The other chicka who gave the men a run for their money was Beyonce Knowles, the 2nd highest earning women, would have placed 9th on the male list. The list of Hollywood's Top 10 Highest-Earning Women is as follows:

1. Oprah Winfrey at $315 million

2. Beyonce Knowles at $87 million

3. Britney Spears at $64 million

4. Lady Gaga at $62 million

5. Madonna at $58 million

6. Sandra Bullock at $56 million

7. Ellen DeGeneres at $55 million

8. Miley Cyrus at $48 million

9. Taylor Swift at $45 million

9. Judge Judy at $45 million

To view a complete slideshow with a write up explaining each person's worth click here

PS: were you surprised about Judge Judy? I was!

The Girl Effect

(Double click on video to watch full screen)

The Girl Effect is passionately dedicated to spreading awareness about the tragic lives of adolescent girls in the developing world. They stress the importance of education-among other things- in order to keep the girls safe as well as empower them to inflict change.

Here are some FactSnacks provided by The Girl Effect's website:

- An extra year of primary school boosts girls' eventual wages by 10%-20%. An extra year of secondary school: 15 %-25% percent

- When a girl in the developing world receives 7+ years of education, she marries 4 years later and has 2.2 fewer children

- When women and girls earn income, they reinvest 90% of it into their families, as compared to only 30%-40% for a man

- 1 in 7 girls in developing countries marry before 15 (38% marry before 18)

- One quarter to one half of girls in developing countries become mothers before the age of 18

In Nicaragua, 45% of girls with no schooling are married before 18 versus only 16% of their educated counterparts. In Mozambique, the figures are 60% versus 10; in Senegal, 41% versus 6!

Girl Effect is full of passionate people striving to eradicate poverty and give girls the chance at a better life. To visit their website CLICK HERE and you can make a donation, spread their key messages/videos through Twitter and Facebook, and learn more on what they are all about. I encourage you to visit their website and learn about how these young girls can make a difference.

Addicted to Love

**This post has no relevance to "singer" Ke$ha aside from the fact that her lyrics are dangerously related to my quoted FactSnack of the day... **

"In laboratory studies, scientists have learned that, when it comes to love, a very tiny portion of the brain is actually involved. For example, friendship lights up receptors all over the cerebral cortex, but this isn't true with love, which activates parts of the brain more commonly associated with emotional responses like fear and anger. The brain of a person in love will show activity in the amygdala, which is associated with gut feelings, and in the nucleus accumbens, an area associated with rewarding stimuli that tends to be active in drug users. Or, to recap: the brain of a person in love doesn't look like the brain of someone overcome by deep emotion, It looks like the brain of a person who's been snorting coke" - Jodi Picoult's "House Rules" (pages 401-402)