Stefan Bucher’s Daily Monster is our Wednesday staple of creative, hairy fun.

Stefan and the monsters are branching out into the jewelry biz, but you know it had to be for a worthy cause…

The first is Metal For Monsters, a charity jewelry project started by graphic designer Eric Jean-Louis and industrial designer Vivian Cheng of Blend Creations. 

{(met-l fer mon’strs) cause. 1. An effort by Blend Creations to raise money for UNICEF by collaborating with artists for a special line of limited-edition stainless steel pendants.}

They invited nine artists to design laser-engraved stainless steel Monster pendants to benefit Unicef. Happily, two of the Monsters agreed to help.

Each pendant is limited to 100 pieces, signed and numbered on the back, and sells for $81. $16 of that goes straight to Unicef. Please check it out.

I think I’ll take my two monsters to go!

What’s your Red Rubber Ball?!

From the Millennial Challenge blog:

Red Ball Drop Day #5: Finale!

My last official day for the Red Ball Drop in Uganda, and Ball Drop #23 and #24, took place at the ENGAGE Uganda, Namuwongo Youth Soccer Tournament (attended by over 500 people) and Uganda’s School for the Disabled. 10 youth from GYPA who live in Namuwongo, some of which also participate in Gomo Tong Football Club, participated in sporting matches with the children and youth including, hand ball and tug-o-war. View the photos here and more details coming soon!

Jeremy Goldberg and Global Youth Partnership for Africa are on the front lines of the sport for social change movement. A lot of dreaming happens when kids are at play, kicking a ball around a yard or field.  GYPA’s ball drops are like dream catchers, dream makers for kids.  A ball can change a life. 

What’s your Red Rubber Ball?!

NY Yankee All-Star shortstop Derek Jeter’s Turn 2 Baseball Camp ‘08 was held this weekend in Kalamazoo, MI.  Perusing the web, I noticed that the ‘07 event received some blog luv (including pics) from Kalamazoo City Commissioner Sean McCann:

Today I was privileged to be a guest at the commencement picnic of Derek Jeter’s Turn 2 Foundation Baseball Camp, which ran for the past four days at Mayor’s Riverfront Park and operated in partnership with the City of Kalamazoo’s Parks and Recreation Department. Photos are (1) under the tent with all the baseball campers and their parents, and, (2) the motivational speaker, Kevin Carroll, author of the book “Rules of the Red Rubber Ball” - he gave an excellent talk with a great message for the many youth present.

Look for the ‘08 Turn 2 report coming very soon!

What’s your Red Rubber Ball?!

When your field of play is a dirty courtyard or a trash filled lot - steps can be taken to clear the debris, plant grass and create an oasis for youth to play.  But what about the ocean?

A while back we told you about the ”Free Rice” campaign.  Here’s another opportunity from the Youthnoise crew that requires a simple click of your computer mouse to help us help the ocean…

Just 1 Click

In August, clicks will give support to sporting for good. For each click, YN will donate $.01 – up to $1,000 – to the Surfrider Foundation.

100,000 clicks can help the Surfrider Foundation confront water pollution, beach access, beach loss, and other serious issues. More

30%
Clicks so far: 30,884
Goal: 100,000

Protecting Our Beaches for Over 20 Years

The Surfrider Foundation is dedicated to the protection and enjoyment of the world’s oceans—having fun while making a difference. Founded in 1984, the Surfrider Foundation focuses on clean water, beach access, beach preservation, and protecting special places as their major initiatives. Click every day in August to help keep our oceans clean, safe, and fun.

With ocean dead zones expanding at alarming rates, we have a lot of work to do - on land as well as sea.  This is a tiny step, but its heading in the right direction.  Play your part - click that mouse.

What’s your Red Rubber Ball?!

My very able assistant, Jessica Lustbader, forwarded me the link below.  If you want to know anything about sport and development, go here....

From the International Platform on Sport and Development:

What is Sport and Development?

For these very different actors to understand each other better, it becomes necessary to develop common definitions and frameworks for action in order to improve practice.

The opportunity to use sport and play to create a better world is limited only by our belief in and the power of our imaginations.  Every day, more creative uses of play are sprouting all over the world.  As these individual, often isolated initiatives develop, so too will the need for an infrastructure to support, enhance, link and promote these activities and activists.  The IPSD seeks to provide this kind of support.  To read more about the International Platform’s mission and values, follow the link below…

What’s your Red Rubber Ball?!

Stefan Bucher’s Daily Monster is our Wednesday staple of creative, hairy fun.

Now hear this:  Stefan is really going BIG Time now.  Check out this blog post from his Daily Monster site:

“...A special welcome to those of you who just found out about this site from the L.A. Weekly. The Weekly is very kindly featuring one of the Daily Monsters on its cover this week, advertising an article on Making Fiends creator Amy Winfrey, and one on… ahem… well, they have one on me, too. Great thanks to La Vida writer Gendy Alimurung for giving a massive shout-out to our little Monster community, and to Joshua Bearman for making the initial introduction back in December.”

Monsters don’t die; they multiply!  What’s next, “Monsters Take Manhattan...then Paris...then...?!” Stay tuned.

What’s your Red Rubber Ball?!

From Jeremy Goldberg’s Millennial Challenge blog:

A Break in the Ball Drop....

Like many people here in Uganda, I’ve started to follow the various early stage Olympic Games. Right now, I am watching Nigeria v.s. Japan in soccer (and Nigeria just scored the first goal of the match). In 1996, and maybe you wouldn’t believe it, but Nigeria won the Gold Medal in soccer. Don’t believe me?

Tonight I’ll look forward to the USA v.s. China basketball game. The stage is set for the U.S. to redeem itself from it’s terrible performance at Athens in 2004.

However, this morning, I watched Russia v.s. Iran. Russia, who has star NBA player Andrei Kirilenko, was the overwhelming favorite, and defeated Iran 71-49. However, Iran played a fantastic game and fans cheered them on throughout the game.

After the game was truly the BIG moment (and thanks to ESPN for putting this on their homepage). Reporters had questioned the team members about the tensions between Iran and Israel. In response, it is reported that Russian Coach, David Blatt (who holds dual Israeli and American Citizenship) and Iranian Team Captain, Mohammed Nikkah, shared a hug and pat on the back. The questions came about after an Iranian swimmer refused to participate in a pre Olympic meet because an Israeli athlete was competing in the same race.

This demonstration of hope, and friendship through sport - even in the face of prejudice - is alive across the globe.

In fact, to bring it back to Africa for a moment in 1999, the East and Central Africa Club Championship was being held in Uganda between two countries that have been in conflict for several years, Ethiopia and Eritrea. During their stay in Kampala, the media and locals reported that the teams were sharing smiles, laughs and a meal before the match.

There is more work ahead and the challenges are many, but sports is a way that we can further embrace cultures, societies, and peace in our world.

No doubt about it.

What’s your Red Rubber Ball?!

Dorien de León has been my cello teacher & friend for over seven years. She is an amazing musician, an avid baseball fan (especially for the Houston Astros) and a great encourager for me. My love of classical music has been reawakened as a result of my cello lessons (I do need to practice MORE often) and our friendship!

What’s your Red Rubber Ball?!

It is truly a big world and the problems in it often require that those with more give to those with not quite as much.  Sport that creates or helps facilitate social change often requires travel - because the children of most struggling nations bear the brunt of poverty, disease and war.  Here is another story of people seeing a need - far away from home - and using the time and talent that they possess to help kids in need…

From Seacoast Online:

Soccer goal: Seacoast United’s goodwill trip to Kenya’s ‘win-win’
A girl’s homemade soccer ball puts life in perspective

By Mike Sullivan
August 03, 2008 6:00 AM

Life is all about perspective. Our perceptions of what is good, bad, beautiful, ugly or anything in between depend on the individual and what his or her collective experiences have been. Paul Willis and Matt Glode, the executive director and director of youth programs for Seacoast United Soccer Club in Hampton, recently got a crash course in perspective.

The pair embarked on a goodwill trip to Kenya, spending three days conducting a workshop for Kenyan leaders of youth sports organizations, and then spent four days assisting with a four-day clinic for as many as 60 girls a day…

Eve, 16, is the mother of a 1-year-old child, which is commonplace in Kenya. Eve loves soccer so much she actually plays it, which isn’t commonplace in Kenya. Girls playing sports is, by and large, frowned upon. And that’s putting it mildly.

Eve would sneak away from her home to locations where her parents couldn’t find her so she could play. If her father found out, he would beat her. The beatings didn’t stop her, though.

One day, her father was walking home from work and he heard a bunch of boys in a field calling Eve’s name. He stopped to find out what was going on and couldn’t believe his eyes. The boys were calling to her because they wanted the ball — she was the best player on the field.

From then on, the beatings stopped. The father understood. He realized this was good for his daughter and that soccer could, just maybe, help her find a better life…

Follow the link below to read the whole story…

What’s your Red Rubber Ball?!

Thursday Shoutout is our time to feature those who have given us love on their websites or blogs.  This is our way of saying: Backatcha!

From the ’Fuel 4 The Journey‘ blog:

Sunday, August 3, 2008
What’s your Red Rubber Ball…
As many of you know from reading my blog, I am a HUGE fan of Kevin Carroll’s Rules of the Red Rubber Ball. Well, he has truly outdone himself with his new book “What’s your Red Rubber Ball”. It is absolutely GLORIOUS and I can’t wait to implement it into my classroom this fall.

It truly is amazing, I just love the Magic Box activity and the questions Kevin asks..."What makes you laugh or smile, what in life do you find irresistible...”. I know my students are going to love tackling their dreams and creating their own boxes of magic this year.

I encourage ALL teachers to pick up a copy right now and even if you can’t fit it into your curriculum, I think it would be GREAT to make your own box of magic to show your students. You can read more about the book by clicking on the link below.

Link

Well pre-planning is a week away and I am SUPER excited. I hope to write once or twice a week throughout the school year. I would love to hear the exciting things that are going on in your life and if you teach, what excites you about the upcoming school year.

All the best...and keep living the Dream!!!

Sam

Love the blog title, Sam!  The journey indeed requires fuel - inspiration, heart, know-how.  And it sounds like you know how to keep your students engaged, focused and fueled on their journeys.
Peace

What’s your Red Rubber Ball?!

Stefan Bucher’s Daily Monster is our Wednesday staple of creative, hairy fun.

Stefan is at again:

“...I thought I’d show you a new little item. Are you familiar with Mimobots? They’re Flash drives hidden in limited edition designer toys. To get to the drive, you have to literally take their head off.

The really cool thing about the bots is that they come preloaded with content, specifically a video magazine called MimoZine. Scott Seraydarian interviewed me for the latest issue. Yes, it’s more of me talking about the monsters—something you might be getting sick of at this point. But the segment also features an exclusive new Monster. Shot from TWO camera angles! Please take a look:

What’s your Red Rubber Ball?!

My man, Jeremy Goldberg, Executive Director of Global Youth Partnership for Africa and majordomo of Uganda’s Team Gomo Tong, is reporting live from Uganda.  Here is his latest ‘Millennial Challenge’ blog post:

Today begins the Red Ball Drop Uganda. In preparation, I talked with local organizers, students and youth who participate in the GYPA soccer programming and peer-to-peer youth leadership training programs in Namuwongo. One of the common themes is that the youth want to get better at sports, but primarily want to become better leaders. In their mind, the more time they put in, the more they will get out. Essentially, “practice makes perfect.”

Follow the link below to read Jeremy’s full post…

What’s your Red Rubber Ball?!

Visit to Molten USA:

What’s your Red Rubber Ball?!

This urgent appeal from A. J. Thomson from my hometown news source is a must read.  Future generations of youth are depending on us to act quickly and decisively…

From Philly.Com:

LET’S TALK ABOUT PRACTICE

Mon, Jul. 28, 2008

By A.J. THOMSON
‘PRACTICE! Practice! Not a game, practice!”

Six years later, Allen Iverson’s career-defining quote still pops up on Sportscenter or in daily cultural references.

And, like AI, yes, I’m talking about practice, but not as an evil to be avoided, but as an opportunity. I’m talking about practice because, for thousands of kids, the word has little significance.

Though they see sports on TV, listen to music on the radio or play games at home, they have no chance to practice with their peers. To them, practice is something suburban moms on a television show take their kids to via minivan. To them, practice is something Brian Westbrook sits out so he can be ready to dominate on Sundays.

Practice. It’s time to talk about practice and where it went.

Philadelphia once had a thriving youth-sports and cultural-organization network. Those of us who preceded the present practice-less generation remember games played at our local rec centers with hopes of taking on teams from Feltonville or West Philly. We remember practice and the time spent with our friends and teammates under the direction of volunteer coaches, usually a few our parents.

Thankfully, some parts of the city still have good organizations. We are lucky in my community of Fishtown to be one of them. Across the city, thousands of kids are currently involved in sports, arts and drama and other community-based cultural organizations thanks to the dedicated volunteers who help bring them this opportunity.

Unfortunately, a disproportionately larger number of kids don’t have the chance to participate. For them, practice is limited to rumor and a dream that one day they too can experience the thrill of being part of a team or performing in a play.

Follow the link below to read the rest of this important article…

What’s your Red Rubber Ball?!

Thursday Shoutout is our time to feature those who have given us love on their websites or blogs.  This is our way of saying: Backatcha!

‘Red Rubber Ball’ Bounces into Youth Market

What is it that excites you, makes you smile and fuels your dreams? This is the question author Kevin Carroll urges children to contemplate in his new inspirational workbook, What’s Your Red Rubber Ball?!: Discover Your Inspiration and Chase It for a Lifetime, co-published by Disney Press and ESPN Books. The book, which contains fold-outs, journal pages and self-discovery activities and features red rubber texturing on its cover, lands this month with a 100,000-copy first printing.

The genesis of the title is an actual ball that Carroll played with as a boy, which helped him discover his athletic ability and a passion for sports. That ball fueled Carroll’s personal and professional dreams and, he insists, “it saved my life.” Born in a Philadelphia suburb in 1958, he, along with his two brothers, moved in with their grandparents after their parents abandoned them. The local playground became what he calls “my sanctuary—a magical environment where my worries, shame and low self-esteem disappeared.”

During 10 years of active duty in the Air Force, Carroll spent a good deal of time playing soccer. He went on to study sports medicine and worked as an athletic trainer for high school and college athletic teams, eventually becoming the head trainer for the Philadelphia 76ers. He then went to work for Nike, where he was responsible for inspiring employees. “It was my job to push their creativity and potential to the limit,” he says.

Carroll first delivered his motivational message—to identify what it is that inspires you and pursue it throughout your life—on the page in Rules of the Red Rubber Ball: Find and Sustain Your Life’s Work, which he self-published in 2004. He brought copies to speaking engagements, including those he conducted in conjunction with ESPN. “A copy of the book landed on the desk of Sandy DeShong at ESPN Books, which was just starting up,” the author explains, and they negotiated a book deal soon after. Released in 2005, the ESPN Books edition has more than 120,000 copies in print…

Follow the hypertext link below to read the remainder of the article…

What’s your Red Rubber Ball?!