PARTY WITH A PURPOSE
We noticed this very cool non-profit that teaches kids how to understand compassion for folks less fortunate. A column about Birthday searches explains it a bit better.

Smiling Kids, a young charity that provides birthday presents to local children and teens in need, have created a grassroots project designed to teach children the value of charitable giving. Parents of three young children came up with the idea after they realized how many gifts their kids are likely to give and receive over the years.

Here's the concept: In lieu of gifts for the birthday child, party guests are encouraged to bring a donation, and through their non-profit Smiling Kids, they are able to provide birthday presents for children who otherwise might have none.

Smiling Kids

THE TRAILER PARK QUEEN

Thanks to the Trailer Park Queen herself for making us aware of this awesome site.

Jolene Sugarbaker is the Martha Stewart for the double-wide set. Sugarbaker has crafts, recipes, advice and even White Trash with Class...

Visit Jolene's Trailer Park and tell her Lycos 50 sent you.

TOM CRUISE & OPRAH
By now everyone has heard about the infamous Tom Cruise appearance on Oprah. (The one where he jumped up and down touting his deep love for Katie Holmes.)

Well a brilliant soul imagined what would happen if you gave Cruise some of Darth Vader's's powers...poor Oprah.

Watch Cruise turn to the 'dark side' on Oprah

WHOLESOME WEAR

And you think you've seen it all, until KMAN shows you
Wholesome Wear

Yes those are bathing suits that cover you up..."swimwear that highlights the face rather than the body."

JOHN DAKER
Making its rounds in cyberspace lately, is this wacky John Daker video.

My name is...

From what we understand, this is a public access television show. Apparently Mrs. Unsicker was a music teacher and these were all her students performing.

It is weird enough to bring a smile to your face...

BEAUTY & THE GEEK
Beauty & the Geek may possibly be our favorite show of the summer. It's brilliant, created by Ashton Kutcher and our favorite aspect of the show is that it does not mock the contestants unlike other reality shows.

We came across some of the contestants blogs, worth checking out.

Joe Hanson

Shawn Bakken

The Beauty & the Geek Official Site

In fact they are already looking for next seasons looking for new Beauties & Geeks

If anyone knows of any of the other cast member sites please send them along...

HOW TO DANCE PROPERLY
Looking to 'bust a move' at the next DJ dance party? Need a play-by-play to shake your money maker? Want to perfect the moves to 'stir the pot of love' or 'who's your daddy'? Well here is your chance to dance like Paula Abdul.

The perfect educational video with ways to dance like the pros.
How to Dance Properly

Comes from the amazing mind of Ze Frank who has a bunch of other cool stuff.
As Ze says, "Many people come, but I like you the best."

BREW YOUR OWN FERTILIZER
Johnny Depp does it so why don't you? Got Poppy Envy?
Marion Owen from the Kodiak Island off the coast of Alaska, came up with idea of organic fertilizer in tea bags, after she started growing all her own food. This DIY woman found that all the store bought fertilizer didn't do a very good so she decided to do it herself...

In her own words, "I'd read that kelp was extremely beneficial for plant health, so I ventured to the beach and filled a bucket with seaweed. On the way home I gathered dried leaves, grass clippings and other goodies. I packed the blender and hit "blend." The mixture looked awful, but I strained it and fed it to my plants anyway. By golly, they began to look better, healthier. One day, after mixing a batch, I sat down with a cup of tea. I glanced down at the tea bag and watched it bob in the mug. I discovered my answer. PlanTea was born..."

For more information and even a free sample of this funky organic fertilizer, Plantea.com

TRIPOD FOR TROOPS
The United States Army celebrates its 230th birthday this week. In honor of the big milestone our colleagues at Tripod created TRIPOD FOR TROOPS.

With Tripod for Troops, military families can create online journals and post photos from digital cameras and camera phones. Families can even invite friends and other members of their communities to contribute and update content on a regular basis.

LOST
The amazing TV show LOST on ABC changed the primetime landscape in many ways this year. With the tremendous success of an actual 'scripted' drama - the final days of reality television may be upon us. The addictive drama is about 48 plane-crash survivors on a mysterious island.

There is even a funky official game, I am Lost

When we first started watching the show, we wondered how it could sustain our interest, but before long we had our first bit of 'appointment' TV since Buffy went off the air.

LOST has also done an incredible job of harnessing the web. In final episode of the season there was an embedded clue in a shot of a poster for the fictional Oceanic Air.

Oceanic Air

Once you get to the airline...many cool things can be found:
1. At the bottom, where it says "Travellers," enter Hurley's unlucky lottery numbers: 4, 8, 15, 16, 23 and 42.
2. Click the "Find" button.
3. Click on the row numbers on the flight's seating chart that match Hurley's numbers.