Who ever said that one person can’t make a difference is wrong.
Jordan Leopold is one of those players that seems to get well “moved”
around a lot this time of year. In fact, he actually just traded for the
4th time in his career and is finally going home. The Minnesota native
was just traded to his home state from the Columbus Blue Jackets
yesterday. What’s not amazing is the trade, but what is amazing is how
is came to happen.
Usually trades that happen in sports are decisions based on money and
performance, not warm fuzzy feelings. Jordan Leopold’s trade was
different. Thanks to Jordan’s daughter, Jordyn, we have all been
reminded that sports are sometimes about people, not just about the
numbers.
Jordyn Leopold is the 11-year old daughter of Jordan, the 34 year old
defenseman who was playing for the Columbus Blue Jackets this season.
In January, she wrote a litter to the Minnesota Wild front office asking
the team to trade for her father, who happens to be a Minnesota
native. The letter reads “My dad is very lonely without his family. We
are living in Minnestoa right now and I am lost without my dad and so it
my mom, my 2 sisters and my brother. My dad is on a team with young
guys and very lonely and is not playing because the Jackets got him
because they needed a D-man. It has been since November and we cannot
take it anymore.” She goes on to pull their heart strings a little bit
tighter “Please, please, please ask the Jackets if you guys could get
him.”
On Monday March 2nd, Minnesota did just that, they traded defenseman
Justin Falk and a fifth round draft pick for Jordyn Leopold’s dad.
Here is the original letter from Jordyn. We don’t blame you if you
get a little misty eyed, we did. Sometimes when all you hear in sports
in money, scandal and stats, its nice to remember that sports really
does have a good side.
This octopus does the most extraordinary thing, watch him go from completely hidden to a giant blue blog in under 10 seconds! Jonathan Gordon was diving in the Caribbean when he happened to come along this amazing creature, completely by accident! Most octopuses are masters of camouflage, but when danger lurks nearby, they often lose their cool and turn into a giant blue ball. Octopuses are capable of changing colors in an instant because of their chromatophore cells that house sacs of pigment.
This is an extremely rare case and luckily it was all filmed while Gordon was on a snorkeling trip in the warm Caribbean waters. “I dove down to have a look at the shell that you can see under where the octopus appears and as I approached the octopus came out of hiding” Gordon wrote in the video description. “I literally had no idea he was there until I was about a meter away.” Moral of the story, look close or you might miss something!
Singapore has a firm grasp on the issues of economics, technology, and other topics one comes to expect from a developed nation. However, they face a serious issue with abandoned and stray dogs.
Even though Singapore has animal shelters to help, like all organizations, animal shelters must also market their institution to attract potential customers. The issue is, many animal shelters already run on an extremely tight budget. While most animal shelters use social media (mainly Facebook) to their advantage, any changes to their advertising plans can limit their prospective outreach.
Thankfully, many animal lovers have shown consistent loyalty in adopting pets from animal shelters, but most people buying pets still purchase them from puppy mills or large corporations. With most animal shelter loyalists already owning multiple pets and no means of a large scale advertising budget, animal shelter’s adoption rates had been steadily declining.
Home For Hope was created to help provide relief to this depressing condition and also drive awareness on the issue. They teamed up with two animal shelters – Save Our Street Dogs (SOSD) and Animals Lovers League (ALL) – and IKEA to create a marketing campaign that has had tremendous results! To add to the momentum, many other companies have joined the campaign.
Check out the video to see how a simple trick made a huge difference! Perhaps corporations here in the States can adopt a similar program!
You probably have seen the video of the dancing skeletons, but if you
haven’t then you are about to witness one of 2015’s most uplifting
campaigns so why don’t you check out the video?! And if you have seen it
be bet you can’t wait to watch it again. The video is brought to you by Love Has No Labels campaign. Their
mission statement reads, “Before anything else, we are all human. It’s
time to embrace diversity. Let’s put aside labels in the name of love.” The idea is to show everybody that we are all capable of giving and
receiving love regardless of color, age, gender, disability and
discriminating based on any of these notions is simply wrong. It is
amazing to know that less than 50 years ago, being in an interracial
relationship was illegal. Similar to how interracial relationships are considered normal by
most people in today’s society, a similar conscience of acceptance (and
appreciation) must be extended to people in homosexual relationships,
also – and of course anybody and everybody that is in a loving
relationship. The fact that this topic still remains an ongoing debate really
prohibits us from moving forward. It’s 2015 and it should be globally
clear and understood that hating other people based on their orientation
is not only wrong but a waste of valuable time. We hope this video brings smiles to your day; for us it brought tears
of joy and a hair-raising chill down the spine. Spread the love and
eliminate the hate!
Van Gogh is a name that anyone who has
ever taken an art class has heard of. Out of a catalog of over 2000
artworks, two of his works come immediately to mind. One is a
self-portrait he had made after cutting off his ear from a mental
episode– although, there are claims that say he lost it in a friendly
sword fight in the dark so we will let you pick your own preferred
ending. The other is entitled the Starry Night.
Starry Night usually serves as one of
the most iconic artworks of the Post-Impressionist era. But, its
strangeness has even served a purpose in the field of science.
Turbulence, in a fluid dynamic, is a
concept that is not very easy to explain (or envision) using mathematics
– art however provides a remarkable bridge to help understand this
theory. The eddies in the Starry Night provide perspective on
turbulence. After scientists compared the Starry Night to Van Gogh’s
other works and also the works of other impressionist painters, it was
clear that only Van Gogh was the master of capturing turbulence.
Interestingly, he had made the painting after he had admitted himself
into a mental facility after the ear incident; perhaps a great example
of how true emotions can be put into art.
Check out the video to fully understand
how the Starry Night plays a pivotal role in the depiction of this
scientific concept. It’s amazing to see how the work of then
under-appreciated artist can pave the way to a marvelous discovery over a
100 years later. The line between insanity and sheer genius is
certainly a thin one!
People are always saying that cats are mean and heartless, that they
are not as loving as dogs. Or that cats are selfish and only care about
themselves. But as every other cat lover out there knows: this is so not
true!
Don’t believe me? Then just watch this video of a mommy kitty trying
to save her baby. Sure she could be sunning herself, chasing juicy
spiders, or sniffing around the kitchen for some food, but this kitty is
no Garfield! Instead she’s busy trying to save her baby kitten trapped
up in a tree.
Cats are notorious for climbing everything, trees included. They are
built for the sport and do it quite well. But that doesn’t mean cats
don’t get stuck up in trees. Baby kittens are even more likely to get
halfway up before realizing, “what-meow?”
In fact there are businesses that provide services to remove cats
stuck in trees—that’s how often it happens. The mommy cat in this video
wished she had their number on the day this video was captured.
Trapped up in a tree, her kitty cries and cries cute little kitten tears. Mama cat knows her baby needs some help, and so she climbs up the tree to reach and assist her white ball of fluff. When she reaches her you can practically feel the relief.
That is until mama tries to grab the back of her kitty’s neck, apparently attempting to carry her down. But instead of going along, the kitten clings tight to the branch with her paws. Mom tries, and then tries again, all to no avail. And so she takes another route of action.
Mom starts walking down the tree, hoping her kitty will follow. At first, it appears that she will, but then this bundle of fur decides to do what cats do best: cause mischief. Instead of climbing down the tree, the kitty climbs up even higher, situating herself on the next available perch.
“Oh no way!” Says momma cat, as she scampers back up, once again trying to take her baby by the neck. Just like the time before, to no avail. This kitty is quite the handful! She cries and cries up in the tree, but she sure doesn’t want to let mom drag her back down. And so mommy seems to give up, showing her kitten how to climb down by example and then hoping for the best.
Here’s where you might be thinking- ah-hah! Cold and heartless, she gave up, what mom gives up?! Think again, this mommy kitty isn’t standing by calmly. She’s fiercely panting! Cats only pant when they are really thirsty or really stressed out.
Clearly, with the current situation at hand, this mommy cat is full of stress! And who wouldn’t be? She can’t seem to control her baby kitty, now dangling up in a tree, crying, but resistant to help.
Even though mommy worries her kitten will remain in the tree forever, it doesn’t take long before she follows her mommy’s example and makes her way down the tree. Slowly but surely the kitten reaches solid ground, causing you to wonder how mom is going to react. As any mother might relate, momma cat is relieved but not necessarily overjoyed. In fact she probably wants to give her baby a stern hissing, “You scared the catnip out of me!”
Moms are awesome, always there to help us out when we need them.
Giving us the loving encouragement all species crave. Even in the animal kingdom, moms reign supreme, lovingly taking care of their babies—even those with a mischievous agenda.
Buddhist monks are famous for their amazing feats of intense strength
and concentration. What they can do would probably kill most people.
But normal feats of strength weren't enough for one Buddhist monk in
Thailand's Nong Bua Lamphu province. He decided to take it to a whole new level: meditating in the lotus position while immersed up to his waist in boiling, hot oil.
(source: Youtube)
While it might look like more of a publicity stunt, this is actually a religious ceremony. After the monk is finished meditating, bottles of the oil and relics from the ceremony will be sold to spectators seeking blessings.
Have you ever been in the kind of foul mood where your friends try to
comfort you, but it still feels like flint-tipped arrows to your
precious ego? This frog can definitely relate. Watch what happens
when this moody amphibian gets a friendly tap from his human friend. His
reaction took his owner by surprise, to the point where he thought it
would be a good idea to share it with the world. Now the frog is going
to be even angrier once he learns how everyone else is watching him.
A homeless cat snuck into the St. Petersburg’s Zoo in Russia, hungry and alone the calico cat was lucky to stumble upon some much needed food and water. The only potential issue was that the food and water belonged to a much larger lynx. In the end, the cat got much more than it bargained for, including a new best friend.The one thing all living creatures covet is love, we need to give love and we need to receive love. Without companionship the world is a lonely and scary place. It’s not just humans that feel this way; even animals that are not traditional pack animals need a friend to depend on. Case and point: take a look at the heartwarming friendship shared between this calico house cat and European lynx.While the lynx and the calico are both considered feline, these two don’t look like the most likely of pals, especially taking into consideration their size difference. Still, the pair hit it off from day one and continues to share a very loving relationship. To see the extent of their love, you can watch a video of the two very different felines cleaning one another at the bottom of this post.
According to locals, the calico cat was only a kitten when she first stumbled into the lynx enclosure. The kitten was homeless and would sneak into the Lynx’s home to get food and water. Instead of rejecting or fighting off the tiny intruder, the lynx embraced her visitor with open paws and a big, warm heart.
Since the calico was only a kitten when the pair first formed a bond, the kitten looks at the lynx like her mother. After all, when she arrived at the zoo she was in need of a mother’s tender care and the once lonely lynx was happy to play mom. Ever since the two have carried on their close relationship, each providing the other with the love and companionship all creatures crave.
Zoo employees were undoubtedly shocked when they first saw the stray cat chilling with the lynx, but it was clearly apparent that the two were very happy together and needed one another. The zoo did the best thing it could for the animals by adopting the sweet cat so that the lynx and cat can live together forever. Today, they still live in the same enclosure and remain best pals.
The lynx is considered a medium-sized cat. Out in the wild, the lynx lives throughout remote northern forests of North America, Europe, and Asia. The lynx is known as a solitary cat that hunts at night in order to avoid being seen. These skilled hunters can spot a mouse 250 feet away, but that doesn’t mean they are evil killers. Clearly, the lynx has a soft spot for other creatures in need.The lynx is often hunted for its gorgeous coat. By purchasing fur coats, scarfs and other accessories you play a role in the killing of these gorgeous, loving creatures. Be kind to animals–faux fur is way cooler!
The St. Petersburg Zoo is Russia’s oldest zoo; it is also referred to as TheLeningrad Zoo or Leningradskiy Zoopark. Sofia Gerhardt and Julius Gerhardt founded it in 1865. Today, it houses around 2,000 animals including over 400 species. Perhaps the zoo’s most unique enclosure is the one containing lynx and calico cat. Adorable video of calico cat and lynx grooming each other:
