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Syed’s 3 Things for Calgary

Syed
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As you have probably noticed by now, Mayor Nenshi recently launched the “3 Things for Calgary” campaign. Let’s face it, Calgary is the place that we call home, and for many of us, it is the where we were born and raised. With the mayor’s new campaign, we as Calgarians are being given the opportunity to make our city shine.

The goal of the campaign is for every Calgarian to do three things to improve their street, neighbourhood, and city. There truly are endless possibilities when it comes to ways that we can improve our city – they can be big projects or smaller initiatives; however, every little action counts.

Personally, one of the things that I want to do is start pick up games of hockey, soccer, football, or any other sport with the kids in my community. Something that I’ve noticed increasingly so is that whenever I head outside, there are fewer kids out and about. I know that when I was younger, I would go out to ride my bike almost everyday. I think by promoting the revival of having fun outside, I can improve my neighbourhood and by extension, the city itself.

Next up, I would really like to raise some awareness about the numerous Arts and Culture related festivals that occur in the city. Far too often, I talk to people and they complain about Calgary’s “lack of culture.” What a lot of people don’t realize, however, is that Calgary is actually rather vibrant in that regard – there are several events throughout the year, such as Lilac Fest, Sled Island, Afrikadey, Market Collective, and others. I think that just putting up posters around the block would raise a ton of awareness and let Calgarians appreciate their own city a lot more.

Lastly, I want to volunteer with various organizations throughout the city, as they really do brighten up Calgary. For example, I have already worked with Youth Central and Canadian Blood Services, but I would also like to get involved with organizations such as the Mustard Seed or Meals on Wheels. I think that by getting out in the community and volunteering can really raise self-appreciation, and it also lessens the burden on other volunteers, allowing them to help Calgary grow even more as a city.

As you can see, none of these are really big things; almost anyone could do at least one or two of the things I mentioned. That really is the beauty of Mayor Nenshi’s 3 Things for Calgary – it does not take a lot to make a difference in the city. We can all make a positive difference in our community, helping Calgary take those steps towards being a world class city.

[youtube J8w6shatSMs]

Could Botox be more than just a cosmetic treatment?

Sarah
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Recently I heard about the different benefits of Botox, other than the well known use of reducing the signs of aging. Botox first began being used in the ’70s to treat people who were cross eyed, also known as strabismus, and then in 2002 it became very popular with middle-aged women as a cosmetic treatment to reduce signs of aging such as frown lines and wrinkles on the face. Botox is not only good as a cosmetic procedure though, it also reduces muscle pain, tension and spasms. Botox works in the muscles by blocking impulses from the nervous system which then allows the muscles to relax. This helps to reduce muscles spasms in ones neck, face, or eyes. The use of Botox to relax muscles was further proven during a clinical trial for the use of Botox to reduce wrinkles. Some patients who suffered from chronic migraines reported that after getting to Botox injections into their face, they have not gotten migraines. It reduces migraines through removing muscle tension. Botox is injected into locations that the patients are feeling pain, which is commonly in ones forehead, neck, and shoulders.

http://secondskinmedspa.com/botox.php

Some of the main benefits of Botox are:

  • Asthma
  • Chronic cold hands
  • Voice therapy
  • Excessive sweating
  • Migrane headaches
  • Muscle spasms
  • Wrinkle removal

Video of the Day: Violin cover of Queen’s Don’t Stop Me Now

ali
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I’m an avid classic rock enthusiast, and I stumbled upon this the other day. A phenomenal musical display. This man needs a label, he even nails the solo!

Life’s too short for the wrong job

E
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I came across this really amusing yet informative ad campaign done by a German organization when surfing the web. It really reminded me of the many grade twelves who are applying for their post-secondary education – especially of those who feel pressured by their parents’ demands. No, there are not only three jobs in the world; if everyone was a doctor, lawyer or engineer, I’d say society will never function properly, let alone deal with all its citizens running savage, swinging their stethoscope, book of criminal codes, or steel beam ridiculously. And no, I am not encouraging everyone to dig out their long-lost pitchforks and organize a rebellion either. I believe, though, it is very important to make your choice accordingly; make your choice wisely, because, really, life is too short for any regrets.

 

 

Battlefield 3 Single Player Campaign

william
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Warning: Battlefield 3 is an “M” rated game (17+)

Without going into too much detail about the plot… a militia know as the PLR has become powerful enough to take on military superpowers and are involved in a plot masterminded “Solomon” to detonate stolen Russian nuclear weapons in large western population centers, most likely to start a third world war.

Both U.S. marines and Russian Spetsnaz are trying to apprehend Solomon and his cohorts, but they are hostile to each other and will shoot on sight. You play as multiple soldiers (both Russian and American) involved in this conflict.

The majority of the campaign is just you shooting at other soldiers. I wouldn’t call it repetitive, but it was tedious nonetheless. I also found the “quick time events” to be too frequent and mostly unnecessary.

The fighter jet level was quite the let-down. You did not get to pilot the jet at any point, nor did the machine guns on the jet do anything, so the majority of the level is just you staring at a target until it said “locked,” firing a missile and the repeat.

The only levels I really enjoyed were the Spetsnaz levels and the very last level.

As far as the story goes, whether from a movie or from “Black Ops” I’ve seen it all before. The story was still interesting (don’t get me wrong) but lacks any originality. Russians and WMDs right?

I give the single player campaign 68%

[youtube Pzajrl8PE2M]

 

3 things for Calgary

MJ
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Calgary is a great city to live in. But there’s always room for improvement. If I had to list just three things to make it an even better place to live, I would suggest the following.

First, what I notice in many neighbourhoods is a lack of interaction. Sure, you would know some of your neighbours because they go to the same school as you. But what about people of different age groups? Sometimes there are little kids running around the block and sometimes there are old people taking a stroll. Instead of starting with an activity that attempts to encompass the interests of everyone in the community, why not try to get to know them first? After all, how could you determine what activities a community should hold if the individuals in it don’t know much about each other? And getting to know people around you creates a stronger bond and a sense of belonging.

There are so many great people in Calgary, including our very own Youth Central volunteers. But Calgary would be an even better place if people were a little more courteous. Maybe instead of shoveling the snow from just your sidewalk, you could shovel the snow from your neighbours’ sidewalks as well. Or it could even be offering someone, older or disabled, on the bus or train your seat. You may be surprised to know that not everyone does this. You get the heart-warming feeling inside of knowing you’d done something kind for a stranger and they happily benefit from your help. Even if it may be as small as yelling “STOP!” on behalf of a quiet, helpless person who needs to get off the bus, it would be a great improvement nonetheless.

Finally, a definite way to improve Calgary is to hear from its inhabitants. Why not host a community meeting to discuss issues concerning certain areas of Calgary? If there is anyone, even one person, unhappy about the way things run, what good does it do if they don’t bring it up? Our city has so much to offer, and we should all take advantage of them, but there are always ways in which we can improve it. So give your ideas a voice. After all, ideas are where everything blooms from.

In short, what I’m getting across is that we need to be active and involved. Of course there are numerous people already doing so, but why not reach out to everyone and extend the involvement? Sometimes, it’s not enough to just vote and pay your bills. Calgary is a place of innovation, and a place always willing to adopt new ideas for improvement, continually making it a great place to be.

Awesome video game pumpkins

missCarrie
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What better way to celebrate Halloween but to carve pumpkins? And who wants to do that laborious activity when you can just look at awesome pumpkin carvings instead? DeviantART even has their own category for pumpkin carvings!

Joystiq featured Dennis Cwiks pumpkin based on Limbo
Ceemdee's awesome Ico tribute!
Shadow of the Colossus by rah-bop
Can't forget about Tetris!
McGilder carved this cute Sackboy
joh-wee's Charizard!
scottfidd and his Wii
A really awesome Link
Mushrooms that light up in different colors? Sweet!
Awesome pumpkin carving skills!

Video of the Day: Michael Buble Live

arjun
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Kerri’s 3 Things for Calgary

kerri
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A giant green 3 has never been more exciting! “3 Things for Calgary” is an awesome new campaign that can for sure make a huge difference. The premise is simple, choose 3 things to do as an individual for your street, neighbourhood and city. Seems easy enough, right? Well I agree. But if everyone does it, Calgary is going to be even MORE amazing than it already is.

So, without further ado, here are my 3 things for Calgary:

1. I’ve always loved the street I live on, my neighbours are beyond nice, and we’ve all lived near each other for a looooong time, so we’re super tight. One of the best things about my street is that there’s a ton of kids that live on it! So, seeing as I’m the oldest one on my street, I’m going to offer some free babysitting services to my neighbours. I really love all the kids on my street, so it’s really not a hassle to spend time with them, but it can be a HUGE help to a busy parent.

2. Like my street, my community is also super amazing, but i know we can be even more amazing! So I’m going to spread the word about the “3 things” campaign! By talking to my neighbours, family and friends, hopefully they’ll come up with their own 3 things and this whole campaign will become even bigger and better! Yay!

3. Last but not least, my plan to help the city is to volunteer! Now, I already do volunteer a fair amount, but my new goal is to find a cause that I really am passionate about so that I can donate a ton of time to that and see the long term pay off that volunteering brings!

Everyone should definitely come jump on the “3 Things for Calgary” bandwagon because it’s seriously going to shake up the city! 🙂

Video of the Day: Freedom of expression through art

sheliza
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When I first saw this video, it blew my mind. Students in Western Canada High School’s Arts Department take eight colors of spray paint and create a mural that is embedded with symbols and words. This just proves that people shouldn’t underestimate how talented youth are… we all have hidden talents, skills and passions. It’s up to us to take risks, explore and learn new things in order to find out these hidden characteristics. 🙂

Photo of the Day: Awesome Harry Potter Cake

sarena
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Ben Underwood: Echolocation boy

MJ
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Echolocation. The ability to develop an image of one’s surroundings by a means of auditory senses. Ben Underwood was one of the six people in the entire world who displays such ability. Upon discovering he had retinal cancer, he had had his eyes removed by the time he was three years old. He was taught to walk with a cane but he also began to teach himself echolocation. Ben would simply throw objects around, click his tongue and when the sound would bounce back to him, he could “see” where it landed.

He displayed an exceptional level of echolocation. He could play basketball (better than I can), rollerblade, play videogames by associating the buttons on the controller with sounds a character makes, swim with dolphins (which also use echolocation, as do bats) and pretty much everything else people with sight can do. When  an older boy decided he would pull one over Ben by sneaking up on him and punching him square in the face, he didn’t expect Ben to come after him and give him a taste of his own medicine. He even helped lead his family, all of whom can physically see, out of the park after dark because he had the layout formed in his head.

To Ben, water was a challenge. But just as he didn’t let a physical blindness prevent him from living his life, he didn’t let his fear run his life. He went to San Diego’s SeaWorld Adventure Park to swim with dolphins to understand how they used echolocation. The staff were amazed with his outstanding abilities with the dolphins.

Ben Underwood did not lead an unhappy life. In fact, for someone who had been born into a physical limitation, he made the most of it and more. “I tell people I’m not blind,” he said, “I just can’t see.”

[youtube qLziFMF4DHA]

There’s five parts but make sure to check out at least two minutes from this video! It starts at 00:30 but if you don’t want to see him putting in his prosthetic eyes, skip to 00:53.

Underwood died on January 19, 2009 at the age of 16 from the same cancer that took his vision.

SnorgTees. Geek-Nerd T-Shirts FTW.

admin
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Are you someone that laughs are science or math jokes? Or are you at least someone that understands them?

If you are, then you should check out this website for t-shirts. It will be your ultimate style soulmate. Look at me go; I’m like a natural born saleswoman. Woohoo. But seriously, these t-shirts are funny. Get one and we’ll be best friends.

Okay, so even if you don’t understand geeky jokes, don’t you just love it when someone takes a few seconds out of their life to read what’s on your t-shirt? It’s one thing for them to stop and read, but for them to laugh. Oh good golly, it makes me a happy camper. Doesn’t that just make your day? Well, I stumbled across these t-shirts and decided that I’m going to save my money to buy a boatload of these t-shirts. Most of them are around $20, but they’re worth it~ Here, go check them out.

BUT WAIT! There’s more~ You can submit a t-shirt design with some punny sayings, clever words, or cute picture. Anything. If they choose your idea, SnorgTees will give you $150 and a free shirt. It doesn’t even matter if you’re not an artist. Just send a decent explanation of your design and you could get free stuff *-*. This is where to go to submit ideas.

These are my favorite t-shirt designs:

 

 

Strategic Tic Tac Toe.


Because it’s like Star Wars. Haha… I laughed for a long time.

Clever reference to the new distracted driving bylaw? I think so. I wouldn’t wear this shirt while driving… I don’t know if it could get you pulled over :/

For Mario Kart gamers.

 

Just for the days where you just don’t care.

I killed a mommy spider once, and the next day, one of her kids attacked me. No lie. He ended up crawling into my leggings. It wasn’t even funny.

 

5 Strangest Cars Ever Made

Richard
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The designer of this car should be fired.

There’s cars on the roads today, that when we look at them make us think, why in the world was this ever made? Or why would someone buy something that hideous? Take the Nissan Juke, for example. What was going on at Nissan for this car to even be considered for production? It’s simply hideous! Believe it or not, there’s worse out there. I was reading through HowStuffWorks.com and came across this: The 5 Strangest Vehicles Ever Made. This also doesn’t include the people who modify and do ridiculous things to their cars. Huge spoilers on the back of a front wheel drive Civic, loud exhausts on Integras, and putting on dumb looking LEDs on cars, etc. The list can keep going.

 

5. Terrafugia Transition

Really? It’s a car that can transform into a plane! But quite honestly, as neat as this might be, now isn’t the time to invent one of these. Think about the amount of bad drivers on Calgary roads today; now imagine them driving in the sky. Cars literally would just be falling out of the sky if these were made into production.

4. The Cupcake Car

I’ll let this one explain itself.

3. Trout Bike

A motorbike dressed like a trout; cool. Or wait, is it a trout? Looks like a …. actually never mind, pretty sure there’s a cat that’s chasing it – it’s just cropped out of the picture. This makes the Cupcake Car look much cooler.

2. Watercar Python

This beauty is powered with a Corvette engine, nice! Doesn’t change the fact that it’s a car and not a boat, even though it works on water or land. I like to think that the guy in the picture might be in a mid-life crisis, or just extremely confused on what he wants.

1. Dodge Tomahawk

This motorcycle paired with a Dodge Viper V10 produces 500 HP, and has a top speed of 400 mph. Now, although this was a concept, imagine if it was made into production and you could deactivate the speed limiter. I wonder what the top speed would be before your bones got crushed with the amount of force exerting against you. Also, is it just me or does this remind you of the motorbike from The Terminator?

My 3 Things for Calgary

sheliza
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Every day, Youth Are Awesome bloggers are posting on the three things they can do for Calgary as part of the City’s 3 Things project. My Three Things are:

1. Connect with your neighbors. They live beside you anyways.

My family decided that we should connect with our neighbors. We have been living beside each other for the past 14 years but we haven’t got together in four years. We decided to call them over and have some “community bonding” time! I strongly encourage you all to call your neighbors over and spend some quality time together because you never know what you’re missing.

Let’s get real. We aren’t living in the “Monster House” movie. Our neighbors don’t bite. Just smile and say hi once in a while, I can guarantee they are good people once you get to know them.

2.       Promote City Volunteering Opportunities.

There are so many youth-friendly opportunities for youth to get involved within their city and community. However, City Council lacks the resources to be able to promote these opportunities. I think we as the youth should start a Calgary promotions committee with people from each ward to promote city organizations and committees that youth can join. (A great example: Youth Central).

3.       City-wide Contests.

Yes. Calgary is filled with plenty of artists, singers and actors. It’s time to show off those skills with a variety of contests including performing arts, sports and education contests. We need to have more local contests to give youth an opportunity to step out of their bubble and take risks! If we have local contests, people will be more engaged and start getting involved in their communities and neighborhoods.

If we implement these three ideas, people will be more engaged and aware of our city. Everyone will be active members of our city. This is it. It’s up to us to make a difference and these are three simple steps to help make a change in our city, Calgary.

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