Monthly Archives: April 2009

Conferences, Travel

Manta is coming

On May 22, 2009 an incredibly amazing new roller coaster will be opening at SeaWorld. This new coaster is called Manta and it creates for the rider the experience of soaring beneath the outstretched wings of a giant Manta Ray. Riders will be head first and face down beneath a giant ray on roller coaster rails which attains speeds of 56 miles per hour. From all that I have seen about this coaster it is simply amazing and something I cannot wait to experience when I head to IZEAFest 2009.

Of course, if I chicken out there are plenty of things that I can do in the Manta experience itself without riding the ride. For one thing there are 10 aquariums within the experience. These aquariums offer kids a 360 degree views of the 3,000 animals that will call the place home. This includes a “fever” of 300 rays. With a set up like this the ride, while amazing, is but part of the whole package. As much as I’d like to see everything in the aquarium I’d love it even more to be able to win a “Front-of-the-line” pass to Manta.

You could win yourself a “front-of-the-line” pass as well at ridetheflyingray.com. This site has six activities that you can participate in so that you can get your own pass. The activities range from a Manta related quiz to creating a Manta mask and even being a twitter follower of @RealShamu. If you do all six of the activities you will win the pass and if you do two of the activities you will win a one complimentary electronic photograph from your Manta ride experience at SeaWorld Orlando. What are you waiting for? Head over and get your pass today.

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Blogging

Bloggers Unite For Hunger and Hope

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Today is a Bloggers Unite Day.

Today’s Blogger’s Unite focus is Unite For Hunger And Hope. Bloggers Unite has partnered with Heifer International in order to spread the word about hunger across the world. Here is the Objective of today’s Bloggers Unite focus.

Objective:
BlogCatalog members and Heifer International are partnering to call for the end of world hunger and start of hope on April 29. All we ask is that you join thousands of other bloggers and write a post about world hunger on April 29. You can make a difference.

• Right now, more than 500 million people are living in “absolute poverty” and more than 15 million children die of hunger every year.

• World Health Organization estimates that one-third of the population is underfed and another third is starving.

• Even in the United States, 46 percent of African-American children and 49 percent of Latino children are considered chronically hungry.

Organizations like Heifer International are the solution. Every day in April, Heifer International is lifting people out of poverty by providing communities with livestock and agricultural training to improve lives and inspire hope.

What does Heifer International Do?

Heifer International does hundreds of projects across the world. I was looking on an interactive map to see what projects were happening in the world. Out of curiosity I wanted to see the projects in the US and I was shocked by how many there were. I was shocked because I didn’t realize how much hunger there was in this country. I am learning so much from the Heifer International site about what is happening not only in my country but countries across the globe. I think that programs like Bloggers Unite For Hunger and Hope are fantastic ways to motivate people to gain a better understanding of the issues that are facing the human race and how to help. This year for Bloggers Unite there are over 500 bloggers who are uniting to spread the word about Hunger in our world.

Why I am participating in Bloggers Unite.

This past Christmas Allison, Eva and I were invited by IZEA to participate in a special program that was sponsored by Sears. We were given a $100 gift card to spend at Sears and we could do anything we wanted with the money. We decided to buy toys for Christmas is for Kids. After that experience we also decided that we would personally save $10 a month for a year so we could go do that again on our own next Christmas.

After the great feeling of helping out some kids in the neighborhood we thought of other ways in which we could help. I remembered that a year or two ago I did some affiliate sales for a fireplace podcast, iYule Log, that you could download to your iPod. The money that went to that podcast was divided among three charities and one was Heifer International. Since it was Christmas time again and the podcast was still up I wrote up a post encouraging people to make contributions, by buying the podcast, to Heifer International to Help Stock Eva’s Farm.

Eva’s Farm is an idea I had to motivate people to donate to Heifer International either through sales of the iYule Log or direct donations to Heifer International. You can donate as low as $10.00. $10 works out to be 1/6 of a trio of rabbits, 1/12 of a pig and so on. The idea is that a little, when banded together can make a large impact. I would like to make a large impact as well. So if you are interested in helping to stock Eva’s Farm here is what you do. Go either to Heifer International make a donation, once you’ve made the donation you have the option to tell a friend. Send me an e-mail to benspark @ benspark dot com with your web address and I’ll compile a list of people who have made donations to help stock Eva’s Farm. I will then make a post about those who helped to stock the farm.

What are we doing to Help Stock Eva’s Farm?

In addition to saving $10 a month for Christmas is for Kids we are also saving $10 a month for Eva’s Farm. Last year we bought a share of a llama and a flock of chicks, this year with $120 to donate we are looking at donating a goat or maybe a flock of chicks, geese, ducks and a trio of rabbits. Each of these donations goes to a needy family that will raise the animals for income, food and help sustaining their lives and the lives of their villages, cities and towns.

I encourage you to sign up for Bloggers Unite at Blog Catalog and write about World Poverty and the work that Heifer International is doing. Come back by and drop me a link in the comments.