Remember the good old days when, once every blue moon, you'd buy an album on CD and get surprised by a secret song? These unlisted ghost tracks were often hidden beyond the last song, and would reveal themselves after a brief moment of silence. Also known as "easter eggs," these elusive gems have been concealed by a myriad of artists from Dave Matthews to Dido and Nirvana to No Doubt. HiddenSongs.com has uncovered the secrets of many CDs, and has compiled a database of these invisible tracks. Click HERE to find out if your favorite artist or band has a ghost song entombed in the digital code of an otherwise ordinary looking compact disc.
It's easier to live your life in balance when you've got four legs rather than two, so we love the nuggets of inspiration offered up by Dahrma the Cat. For more furlosophy and to check out the moggy's cartoon eBook go to: www.dharmathecatcartoons.com/
The Daily Mantra saw Morcheeba live last night at the Henry Fonda Theatre in Hollywood. The show was the band's final stop on their North American tour to promote their new album Dive Deep, a CD that is quite possibly one of the finest produced this millennium (see previous story).
The show featured the delicate yet very capable vocals of Manda, a Parisian singer Morcheeba brothers Paul and Ross Godfrey found via MySpace. The set opened as the new album does, with the Judy Tzuke-penned “Enjoy The Ride,” a song that reminds us of how we’re masters of how we choose to perceive our own destinies.
Ross then introduced one of the band's classic tracks, "The Sea," from the 1998 album Big Calm. He revealed the soporific song was about the seaside town of Dover, where he and his brother grew up. He lamented that over-fishing has turned the once vibrant ocean there into a dead sea where little now lives, and urged those in the crowd to pay a visit to the Ocean Conservancy website.
The excellent live show, which exuded far more joie de vive than past live forays, featured a mix of songs from the band's six studio albums, and finished with a four-song encore, which included a delightful acoustic rendition of "Au Dela." The deceptively simple ditty, which is written in French, was the first song Manda wrote with the band, and is another of the many highlights to be found on Dive Deep. Did we mention we love (and make love to) this album?
I give in. Defeated. Soundly felled by a thousand social networking sites. Back in the Friendster day, I could juggle things pretty reasonably, and I managed to resist MySpace until its social relevance had all but disappeared. But Facebook? Forget about it. With its gestures at legitimate privacy, significantly diminished sleaze component, and apparently endless procrastinatory avenues, I never stood a chance. So, lacking the self-control to simply cancel my account (or, um, remove it from my phone), I'm investigating the charitable upside to all this cyber-networking. That's right, charity. And it isn't so hard to find.
For you Facebook users, several of the myriad "gifting" options are actually charity-driven. "Lil Green Patch," for example, directs money to the rainforest as Facebook users plant cyber-plants in each others' cyber-gardens (non-Facebook users are thinking I'm insane right about now). Or spruce up your profile page with Greenbook, a sponsored application helping reduce CO2 emissions. Environmentalism not your bag? Well... ok. The various "Cause" applications benefit nearly any charitable cause you can think of, from "Save Darfur" to, uh, "Stop Voldemort." Or visit the Kevin Bacon-affiliated SixDegrees.org to create your own charity badge, attachable to any site, be it MySpace or your own URL.
But the options aren't limited to these more well-known sites. A new venture called One World Connects, distinguished from the herd in part for bringing the "social" back to online networking via a traded physical medallion, is so devoted to giving back, that 10% of their monthly profits are donated to the top four user-chosen charities. With generosity like that, I would almost feel remiss not joining. Procrastination with a clear(er) conscience. That's my new (daily) mantra.
This is one beautiful (and expensive) way to improve your karma. Fisker Automotive have unveiled their new luxury performance plug-in, hybrid, four-door sedan. The Fisker Karma does 0 to 60 in less than 6 seconds, has a top speed of 125 mph, and can drive emission free for 50 miles per day, provided the car is recharged each evening, meaning that the 60% of commuters who drive less than 50 miles to work and back each day will be able to go 100% gas free.
It's designed by Henrik Fisker, who's responsible for the good looks of the BMW Z8, and the Aston Martin DB9 and V8 Vantage. The car has the height of a Porsche 911, the length of a Mercedes Benz CLS, the width of a BMW 7 Series, the looks of Gisele Bündchen, the sex appeal of Johnny Depp, and the eco-chic of Al Gore.
The Q Drive plug-in engine, which also utilizes regenerative breaking to re-charge, was developed in conjunction with hybrid specialists Quantum Technologies. It has two modes: Stealth Drive, which is the car's quiet and eco-nomical mode, and Sports Drive, which maximizes the car's power. An optional full-length solar roof will help charge the car and provide cooling for the interior cabin when the vehicle is parked.
It's expected to go into production in 2009. If Fisker stay on schedule, the Karma could be the first plug-in hybrid electric production vehicle on the road. The cost? A Mere $80,000. We could purchase a lot of carbon credits for our 1998 Ford Escort with that kinda cash.
Most of us know that composting is a good way to deal with your organic kitchen waste instead of sending it to the landfill. But if you don't have space in your backyard or a lot of time to maintain a compost heap, are you doomed to send your potato peelings away in the garbage truck? How can an urban dweller compost effectively and efficiently?
NatureMill has developed an automatic compact composter designed to be used either indoors or outdoors, with minimal fuss and maintenance. They promise their low-energy machine, which uses just 5 kwh per month, will recycle "its weight in waste every 10 days" and will divert "over two tons of waste from landfills over its life."
Just prime the composter before the first use by throwing in a few scoops of garden soil, and with a little mechanical help, the natural cultures will do their job breaking down your organic waste. The mixer and heater inside the composter do the hard work for you. What's more, due to the machine's regular churning cycles and its ability to maintain an optimum temperature, the time it takes for your kitchen waste to be transformed into garden fertilizer is shortened dramatically, from several months or more with an outdoor compost heap to about two weeks with the composter.
Here at the Daily Mantra we were lucky enough to receive a review unit. I was incredibly excited to receive such a high-tech composting gadget, and set it up in my kitchen immediately. It sat neatly beside my fridge, and merrily hummed away as it got to work on my waste. I peeked in at my apple peels and used teabags cozily nestled in their new home on the first night before going to bed myself.
I woke up a short time later to a strange clunking noise in the kitchen. I crept downstairs and found it was coming from the mixer in the composter. I was a little unnerved, but the cycle ended shortly after I came down to check on it, so I shrugged and went back to bed.
The next morning I came downstairs to find the composter unplugged. My husband had been woken at 4 a.m. by the same noise from the mixer, and, since he wasn't sure if it was supposed to make it, he'd switched it off just in case. I sent off an email to NatureMill and left the composter unplugged over the weekend. I received a very helpful and reassuring response first thing Monday morning saying that the clunking noise is normal during the first few mixing cycles and will go away as the machine breaks in. So I plugged it back in and started composting again.
After being inactive for almost two days my composter was starting to smell rather, well, rotten, so I moved it outdoors. I made one very respectable batch of compost, which smelled more like dark, loamy earth than moldy cantaloupe, and have now moved the composter back into my kitchen. So far it doesn't smell at all, so I believe the trick to avoiding odors is to leave it on, just like the instruction manual says.
Despite my personal hiccups, the NatureMill composter does do an excellent job. After almost a year of attempting to get a compost heap going in my backyard I hadn't yet produced any usable compost for my garden, but after just two weeks of using the NatureMill I have half a bucket of dark, earthy compost that I can't wait to work into the ground. Like baking sourdough bread, brewing beer or making yogurt, composting takes a little bit of practice and knowledge in order to nurture the bacterial cultures responsible for the magic. With the automatic composter, the process is sped up so much that it takes much less time to learn what makes good compost. The manufacturers provide everything you need apart from the garden soil that starts the initial process. They include a detailed instruction booklet, sawdust pellets and baking soda to keep the acidity balance in check. As a result the machine makes composting almost effortless.
I'm in love. With a rather special tea cup-cum-infuser set. Sure, it's a little unconventional, but given the state of many relationships out there (Britney and K-Fed, er Adnon, anyone?), I'm standing by my statement. The tea set in question? Sigh. The Primula Personal Glass Tea Mug (pictured above left).
As sleek as it is functional, this compact set includes mug, infuser, and lid in one heat-resistant package. The clear glass reveals the steeping tea's color, which is particularly charming when watching the unfurling of a Phoenix Dragon Jasmine Pearl, and the glass strainer avoids the metallic corruption of less oxidized leaves, like a Silver Needle.
Perfect for gifting, provided you can part with the extra set(s), the only difficulty I've found is in the brewing of particularly fine teas, such as a Rooibos, which really require a paper filter. So while tea paraphernalia crushes may come and go (I'm already a little smitten with this delightful grab-it-and-go Tea Cup Thermos from the Summit Tea Company - see above right) for practicality, functionality, and just plain prettiness, my heart belongs to my Primula.
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Ferris Bueller as the Fool, Morrissey as the Hermit and Cyndi Lauper as the Sun. If your personal mythology refers back to your 80s film and music heroes, this tarot deck from VoluptuousStoicism.com is the perfect one for you!
We thought this piece of dubious exercise equipment was so spectacular in its utter redundancy that it deserved a special edition all of its own in our ongoing series Landfills Were Made For These, which highlights the useless stuff of life (see previous).
The manufacturers of the Hawaii Chair, which features a "2800 rpm hula motor" that rotates the seat, claim their invention “combines the ancient art of the hula with patented health science technology.” They promise that “in just 20 minutes a day you can hula your way to a sexier slimmer you,” and that the chair will “take the work out of your workout.”
But wait. There's more. The folks from HawaiiChair.com say “the Hawaii chair wasn’t just designed for at home,” and that since office workers routinely spend 40 hours a week behind a desk, you should take your workout chair to work. We think, however, that if you “Hawaii chair while answering phones, using the computer, balancing books or filing paperwork,” as this infomercial suggests (if player fails to load click HERE to view), the chair is more likely to take the work out of your life altogether as your boss hands you a pink slip for your peculiar behavior.
But hurry! This offer won’t last for long. On their website the chair is reduced from $419.94 to just $293.96. Hmmn? We can’t imagine why?
After over indulging and slobbing out over the holidays many of us make diet and exercise a priority come the New Year. The Daily Mantra does not recommend any of the products featured in Part 2 of our "Landfills Were Made For These" series for your 2008 fitness regimens however.
This is wrong on so many levels. The words "cookie" and "diet" should never even be used in the same sentence when it comes to healthy dieting, and we're pretty sure the likes of Angelina Jolie and Julia Roberts are not busy munching on these to fit into their Oscar attire. The manufacturers suggest you eat one for breakfast, one mid-morning, one at lunch, and one as an afternoon snack, before eating a sensible dinner. At a rate of four cookies a day, a 12 cookie box, which costs a whopping $19.95, will last just 3 days.
Looking rather like one of those kitsch 1960's vibrating slimming belt machines, The Power Plate Pro5 AIRdaptive promises "a better body in only 15 minutes a day." The manufacturers claim "its benefits are grounded in extensive academic and independent scientific research." The cost of this dubious piece of hi-tech, pre-landfill: A mere $10,500.00.
"I bought this DVD because I have an enormous TV and wanted something to run constantly in the background. I figured naked women was more interesting than fish, but this DVD challenges that theory," says one very unsatisfied Amazon customer. Like all those exercise videos made by hot actresses and supermodels in the 80's, we're sure no one is buying this DVD to improve their tai chi technique. Sadly it seems that even voyeuristic couch potatoes won't get $19.95-worth of satisfaction, since our intrepid reviewer says the poorly lit footage is not very erotic, featuring "a bunch of strippers posing clumsily." For laughs get Nude Aerobics instead.
So you want to learn how to hula hoop? Everyone's doing it these days, even celebs like Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Moss and Beyonce. Vogue has listed hula hooping as one of their 25 Top Obsessions of 2007. With all this hot press, here at the Daily Mantra we decided to give hula hooping a whirl ourselves, so to speak, by checking out Hoopnotica's Hoopdance Beginning Level 1 instructional DVD.
The DVD features clear vocal and visual instructions, great music and lots of happy people enjoying themselves with their hoops. Starting off with getting the hoop moving around your waist, other moves are introduced gradually, such as adding grapevine dance steps while maintaining the movement of the hoop, and learning how to lift the hoop from your waist to above your head. Stretches and breathing exercises use the hoop itself as a prop and movement guide, and troubleshooting tutorials at the end of each section help you focus on perfecting each move. Hoopnotica also sell beautiful limited-edition or collapsible travel hoops to use with their DVDs. The only thing more fun than learning to hoopdance at home with a DVD is hooping with friends and feeling that joy that radiates within a group when everyone is in their groove. If you're lucky enough to live in southern California, you can check out Hoopnotica's hoopdance classes in person.
Hoopdance is part dance, part exercise and part play. It provides an energizing and effective workout that tones muscles, increases flexibility, improves coordination and strengthens the cardiovascular system. Hoopnotica founder Rayna McInturf explains how: "The basic rule is the faster you hoop, the more you are challenging your cardiovascular endurance. The more slowly you hoop, the more control you must exert, and the greater the resistance. It is truly an exercise that you can control using the hoop as a tool to customize your own workout needs."
Hoopdancing is especially good for the core muscles, the abdominal muscles, and back muscles, all which work to improve posture, whittle the waist, and flatten the tummy. Our verdict? Hoopdance is so much fun it is addictive, and the adult-sized hoops make it easy to learn. So get out there and get your groove on!
Short on time but still want to give something worthwhile? Why not give an insta-charity gift card from Tisbest.org. The cute and colorful cards are delivered by email, and start at just $10. You can also include a personal message with your gift card. What's great about TisBest is that the recipient chooses the ultimate destination for your donation (which also makes this a great gift for those you don't know well). The organization works with a slew of charities, from Action Against Hunger and the African Wildlife Foundation to UNICEF and the Young Women's Leadership Foundation.
All proceeds go to charity minus a $3.95 transaction fee (hence this is more economical for larger donations) and a 3% credit card processing fee, and 100% of the purchase price is tax deductible (which is important with tax season approaching). The gift card must be "spent" within three years of purchase, but at TisBest unlike Best Buy, all unredeemed funds go to charity rather than cooperate coffers, which is an important consideration since it's estimated that more than 10% of gift cards go unspent.
Time is a precious finite resource, and therefore can be a very thoughtful gift, as well as one that's easy to give at the last minute and can fit into any budget. Whether you're offering time to share or space for a loved one to spend some quality time alone, such gifts can replenish the spirit.
We may see our loved ones in passing, either on the way out the door or in the midst of holiday hub-bub. That's why it can be a great gift to devote a set time (a few hours, day, or a weekend) to give them your full concentration. You can tell them that the choice of activity (or lack thereof) is up to them, because we don't always know what another person's idea of a great day might be, and we often give gifts based on what WE think is neat.
It can be difficult to ask for time alone without hurting people's feelings, so another way to give the gift of time is to give our dear ones a chance to have some time to themselves, since we all need that at some point. We can facilitate that time by taking care of anything that would otherwise stand in the way: child care, house work, running errands, covering extra-curricular responsibilities, whatever it is. You don't even need to specify what they do with their day, just give them the time to spend as they please.
You can combine the two by giving your partner a weekend, with one day to spend alone together, and one day to spend alone apart. Whether you put it in a card as a gift certificate, or wrap a clock and tie it with a bow, the gift of time is one that strengthens bonds and shows how much we really care.
A great heartfelt gift that can be given at the last minute is the gift of our own skills and talents. If you recall a time someone you know has told you how much they love what you do, it could make a very personal gift. Maybe they loved a quilt you made, or wished they could cook as well as you do. You may not think much of it, especially if is something that comes easily to you, but they obviously do. Offer to cook them a meal for their holiday party, or to make something for them in the future.
By offering a skill or service, you can share part of your world with your loved ones. It can be your flare for feng shui, your knack for dressmaking, your astrological wisdom, or your photographic eye. Maybe you have all the equipment to make an awesome scrapbook of your times together, or to record a mix album with perfect segues. You might even be able to teach them how to dance or barbecue or accessorize. It doesn’t have to be your business or even your hobby, just something that is yours to give, and can be given from the heart.
Music to inspire, create and make love to, these albums have been in heavy rotation in the Daily Mantra's life this year.
1 Giant Leap / 1 Giant Leap
After receiving numerous, and quite justified, complaints about missing the 1 Giant Leap documentary off our DVD list, we’re making sure the accompanying soundtrack album is at the top on this one. The multi-media, audio/visual travelogue project features Baaba Maal, Robbie Williams, Michael Stipe (click HERE for music video), Michael Franti and Neneh Cherry, to name but a few, and packs more of the world than you ever thought possible onto one, very beautiful album.
An Ancient Muse / Loreena McKennitt
After the unexpected death of her fiancé in 1998, Canadian singer and harpist Loreena McKennitt withdrew from the limelight. A reflection on the Celtic singer’s extensive travels in the intervening years, Ancient Muse marked a highly anticipated return from her self-imposed exile and a venture into more wordly sounds.
Colour The Small One / Sia
The Daily Mantra has a preview of copy of Sia's excellent new album, Some People Have Real Problems, which is set for release on Jan 8th 2008, but for now fans of the bluesy, sometimes Zero 7 songstress will have to make do with Color The Small One, which rose to prominence after the breathtaking track "Breathe" was chosen as the soundtrack to Six Feet Under's long drive into the sunset.
Conjure One / Conjure One
Woefully ignored when it was released, the self-titled debut from Conjure One (aka B.C. born ex-Frontline Assembly member Rhys Fulber) features one of the most stunning vocal performance ever from Sinéad O' Connor on the impassioned “Tears From The Moon.” The follow up album, Extraordinary Ways, is also well worth a spin.
Ultimate Kylie / Kylie Minogue
Since Kylie Minogue's post-cancer comeback album X has yet to be released here in the U.S., check out this double CD hits collection which boasts everything from the highly infectious worldwide smash "Cant' Get You Out Of My Head" to the lesser known, but equally worthy, "Where The Wild Roses Grow," an unexpected, yet delightful, collaboration with Nick Cave. The soundtrack of a survivor.
The Mating Game / Bitter Sweet
You may not have heard of the band, but you'll have heard their super-sexy, laid-back, lush grooves promoting everything from ABC's Samantha Who to Victoria Secret's undies and Korbel's bubbles. Sex sells, and this is nothing short of aural Viagra.
Alright Still / Lilly Allen
Like the song says, "it makes me smile, makes me smile." Let's just hope she avoids the tabloid attention-grabbing pitfalls of her position and gets back to the music in 2008. The U.S. has Britney and the U.K. has Amy as their uncrowned drama queens, and neither country needs another. Allen should just stick to making us "Smile" with her bittersweet, and very funny songs.
Rock Paper Scissors / Michael Brook
The third Canadian to make our list, producer and musician Michael Brook is not only famous for inventing the infinite guitar used by U2's The Edge, but also for composing the score for the Al Gore documentary An Inconvenient Truth. Rock Paper Scissors, Brook's most recent solo album, is a cerebral ambient soundtrack for life.
Live At Grand Performances / Dakah Hip-Hop Orchestra
LA's Dakah Hip-Hop Orchestra have picked up the baton and brushed off Parliament's Funkadelic classic Vietnam-era peace anthem "Come In Out Of The Rain," making it more relevant than ever. "When will the people start getting together, learning to live, and love one another..."
Sounds Eclectic: The Covers Project / Various
Radio-freedom fighters KCRW raid their audio vaults, bringing together a collection of classic covers recorded live in their Santa Monica basement Morning Becomes Eclectic studios. Sia makes The Pretender's "I Go To Sleep" her own, K.D. Lang comes over all spiritual with "Hallelujah," and The Magic Numbers do something completely 'out there' with their cover of Beyonce's hit song "Crazy In Love."
Take the weight off a stressed friend or loved ones shoulders by providing them with access to a personal assistant whenever they need it. You'll be amazed at how economical it can be. Web based concierge company Ask Sunday has a team of personal assistants that are accessible online and by phone 24 /7. The rules are simple: each request can take no longer than 30 minutes, and must be something that can be accomplished by phone or online. They can make appointments, reservations and travel arrangements, book theater tickets, send gifts and flowers, give directions and do all kinds of research. They'll even wait on hold for tech support or a customer service representative, and patch you in when they've reached a human being. Membership, either for yourself or as a gift, starts at just $29 a month and provides 30 requests a month, with additional requests costing just $2 each. Gift Memberships can be activated at any time within 12 months of the date of receipt.
This is such a hectic time of year that we could all use a voucher for some pampering and relaxation. SpaFinder.com makes the gift of such indulgence easy, offering gift certificates starting at $50 that are accepted at over 4,000 locations worldwide. What's more, they can be bundled with goodies such as an elegant "Reflect" melanoma awareness bracelet (for an additional $4.95), a cosmetic purse ($10), a box of Harry & David chocolates ($15), or a super-Zen Japanese candle and rock garden ($17) to make your present extra-special. As a bonus for late shoppers, Spafinder will also send an elegant e-card so you can let the recipient know your gift is on its way. Spafinder gift cards can be ordered online or by calling 866-546-0610.
Courtesy of The Unemployed Philosophers' Guild, these make the perfect Christmas gift for f#%k-ups everywhere. Why settle for a few minutes in a psychiatrist's couch when you can spend the rest of your life walking in Sigmund Freud's shoes for a fraction of the price!
Customer review: "It's easier to put on slippers than carpet the world."
This exercise apparel will give the man in your life a unique sense of freedom while swimming or doing yoga. Made from 100% lime-green spandex, that'll be around on this earth long after he's gone (no matter how much yoga he does), these official Borat mankini thongs make a big statement, and come in an easy-to-buy 'one size fits all.'
Customer review: "Excellent fit and it sure is eye-catching. I wore this while teaching a lifeguard pool safety course at the park district and had a blast. Be careful with tan lines on this one."
Help a friend stockpile some of the world's natural resources, while wasting yet more, with Big Ox's canned oxygen. It comes in flavors such a Citrus Blast, Mountain Mint, Polar Rush, and Tropical Breeze, so you can smell the great outdoors without bothering to get out in it.
Customer review: "Hey I tried this stuff from a convention in St.Louis and was skeptic... Was I wrong! It actually works, I can't explain it. It doesn't seem that oxygen in a can would be much better than what we breathe, but I could breathe unbelievable in my race and my recovery time was much quicker.
The good intentions of our previous gift suggestions may make the soul feel warm and fuzzy, but the body might need something a little more material to keep the winter chills out. Send the gift of comfort and joy with PajamaGram’s delightful gift sets. They have a large range of cute sleepware for under $50, such as the 100% cotton ‘Christmas Chaos’ PJs pictured here, which cost just $39.95.
All womens' pajamas come packaged in a stylish periwinkle organza hatbox, and come with a “Do Not Disturb” sign, a lavender-scented sachet, and a personalized gift card. PajamaGram, a sister company to the popular Vermont Teddy Bear Company, also deliver a satisfaction promise with their products, so gifts can easily be returned or exchanged. Order online by 2 p.m. EST on Saturday, December 22nd for guaranteed delivery by Christmas.
Who Killed the Electric Car?
More joyously ironic to watch now Toyota has sold it's millionth hybrid, and GM has been forced to rejoin the green wagon.
The Secret
If Oprah's powers of attraction do the same for Obama as they did for this film, we'll see our first black president come 2008 (as long as all the votes are counted this time around). Opinion polls say they're not working so well. Perhaps she should dust up by watching this movie again.
The Fog of War
The point of history is that you learn from the mistakes of the past. The problem is you need leaders who paid attention during their history lessons.
Sicko
Skip the first 10 minutes, which are too grim for words, and enjoy the pleasure and pain of the remainder of Moore's ode to national healthcare.
Idiocracy
A smart, frightening, funny, and frighteningly funny look at our coke-swilling, burger-munching, Fox "news" watching, dumbass leader-following future.
The Blue Planet - Seas of Life
When the BBC showed the first episode of this beautifully shot documentary series in the U.K. a nation was converted to the cause of ocean conservation overnight.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Don't Panic. Those looking for the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything, need look no further.
Rome - The Complete First Season
All the intrigue of Dynasty but with togas instead of shoulder pads, and more sex (the Romans knew a thing or two about how to do decent sex scenes). A BBC/HBO gem that reminds us that great empires come and go.
Gattaca
The right to privacy is something worth fighting for. Watch it and you'll get the terrifying implications of what's happening now.
When is the gift of weight loss, forty one pounds of weight loss to be precise, not likely to insult its recipient? While a gift membership in Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig may well seem like a big fat insult to many on your Christmas list, whatever their body type, we're sure they would be delighted to receive the service provided by 41pounds.org. For it's unwanted pounds of pesky and annoying junk mail that you will be sparing them, not pounds of excess flesh.
For a fee of, what else, $41, the people at 41pounds.org will do the footwork of contacting dozens of direct mail firms to remove your gift recipient's name from their lists. Their efforts, they promise, will reduce a household's junk mail by 80 to 95 percent for five whole years.
The 41pounds website spells out the environmental impact of this gift. The company is named for the weight of junk mail received by the average American household each year. According to the company's website, all this quickly discarded, nuisance mail cumulatively takes a heavy toll on the planet. Here are a few not-so-fun facts:
More than 100 million trees are destroyed each year to produce junk mail. 42% of timber harvested nationwide becomes pulpwood for paper.
The energy used to produce and dispose of junk mail exceeds 2.8 million cars.
About 28 billion gallons of water are wasted to produce and recycle junk each year.
You waste about 70 hours a year dealing with junk mail.
With the gift of this service, you will be doing good this holiday season by reducing global warming and helping to save trees, water and time. This in itself is pretty terrific, but the glad tidings don't stop there. The three Michigan brothers who founded 41pounds.org in 2006 will donate over one third of their $41 fee to nonprofit organizations that "protect watersheds, plant trees and strengthen communities."
Late with your holiday gift shopping and concerned that what you order may not be delivered in time? Consider the gift of making certain unwanted deliveries all but disappear. Free those you love from the relentless and wasteful aggravation of junk mail. They will be grateful you did and so will the rest of the planet.
Gifts From Causes offer the perfect presents for avid Facebookers with too much worldly stuff. The program allows you to buy a virtual gift icon, which the recipient can proudly display on their Facebook profile, and make a charitable donation to a cool cause. All proceeds (minus a credit card transaction fee) will go to your chosen non-profit.
A $10 soccer ball icon sends funds to love.futbol, a non-profit that makes soccer fields for children in impoverished communities worldwide, and is the perfect gift for a soccer-mad Facebooker. A $15 super-cute teddy bear icon provides a real life cuddly companion to comfort a sick child at the Children's National Medical Center. $20 buys a flock of chicks to help a family in the developing world via the Heifer Project. A $50 virtual puppy will pay for the Humane Society to rescue a dog, and $200 will buy an OLPC laptop computer to educate a child in the developing world.
The Daily Mantra has caught the Facebook bug, so buddy up to us by clicking HERE.
Courtesy of Daily Mantra, you now have a smattering of alternative gift ideas (with a slew still to come, for ongoing inspiration). Some of the pressure is off, and pieces are falling into place. So let's take a moment to explore how this holiday gift-giving frenzy begin?
The traditional exchange of winter holiday gifts stems from the Roman and Pagan Saturnalia celebrations, a winter Solstice festival honoring the god Saturn. In addition to a brief reversal of social roles among slaves and masters, the Saturnalia festivities included gift exchanges, honoring deceased loved ones. These gifts, often wax candles or earthenware figures, signified specific elements of the departed's life or personality, allowing them to live on in the recipient's heart.
With the advent of Christianity, the winter gift-giving tradition was adapted to replicate the gifts of the Magi, and by the Middle Ages, presents were a standard Christmas component, although they were mostly limited to legal or business contacts, such as a tenant and landlord. It wasn't until the late-1820s, when Clement Clarke Moore's A Visit From St. Nicholas (the "T'was the night before Christmas..." poem) burst upon the scene, that Christmas gift exchange became the cultural and economic force we know today.
So if you're still stocking-stuffer stumped? Try tapping into some of these old traditions by offering a gift certificate to exchange household roles (maybe cooking a meal, or doing laundry) or gifting a Saturnalia-esque candle, perhaps with particular scent-memories (such as the FlorenceTocca candle pictured above as a reminder of a special vacation). Then, explain to the recipient, it's a gift honoring the history of giving.
I'll admit it: I used to be a hardcore scrapper. And there's something pretty fantastic about gifting your loved one with painstakingly crafted pages of photographs, notes, and other mementos, whether of trips taken, or lives lead. But in this frenzied season of holiday parties and seemingly endless shopping, who has time for hours of cropping, matting, and assembling? Enter: the online scrapbook.
Sites like Snapfish.com allow you to upload your photos (including scanned images of notes and other non-photographic mementos) to create highly personalized albums in a range of sizes, covers, and backgrounds. Enter your captions - including full pages of text, should you choose - adjust the font to your taste, and voila! You have a fully bound and assembled scrapbook in a fraction of the traditional time. Even better? Snapfish's classic 8x11 inch hardcover album begins at just $20 for 20 pages and is currently available at a 50% discount. Sentimentality, affordability, creativity... This is a gifting trend we can all get behind.
Carbon offsetting is the environmental equivalent of going to confessional. Obviously it's much better not to have sinned in the first place, but, if you do, a few Hail Mary's can certainly help atone for your misdeeds, taking the weight of the sin off your soul.
Terra Pass offsets the damage of your CO2-squandering misdemeanors, by funding planet-positive projects (such as wind farms) on your behalf. Their eco credentials are regularly audited by the non-profit
Remember the good old days when, once every blue moon, you'd buy an album on CD and get surprised by a secret song? These unlisted ghost tracks were often hidden beyond the last song, and would reveal themselves after a brief moment of silence. Also known as "easter eggs," these elusive gems have been concealed by a myriad of artists from Dave Matthews to Dido and Nirvana to No Doubt. HiddenSongs.com has uncovered the secrets of many CDs, and has compiled a database of these invisible tracks. Click 
, a CD that is quite possibly one of the finest produced this millennium (see 
I give in. Defeated. Soundly felled by a thousand social networking sites. Back in the Friendster day, I could juggle things pretty reasonably, and I managed to resist MySpace until its social relevance had all but disappeared. But Facebook? Forget about it. With its gestures at legitimate privacy, significantly diminished sleaze component, and apparently endless procrastinatory avenues, I never stood a chance. So, lacking the self-control to simply cancel my account (or, um, remove it from my phone), I'm investigating the 
Most of us know that composting is a good way to deal with your organic kitchen waste instead of sending it to the landfill. But if you don't have space in your backyard or a lot of time to maintain a compost heap, are you doomed to send your potato peelings away in the garbage truck? How can an urban dweller compost effectively and efficiently?
So you want to learn how to hula hoop? Everyone's doing it these days, even celebs like 
Short on time but still want to give something worthwhile? Why not give an insta-charity gift card from 
Time is a precious finite resource, and therefore can be a very thoughtful gift, as well as one that's easy to give at the last minute and can fit into any budget. Whether you're offering time to share or space for a loved one to spend some quality time alone, such gifts can replenish the spirit.
Take the weight off a stressed friend or loved ones shoulders by providing them with access to a personal assistant whenever they need it. You'll be amazed at how economical it can be. Web based concierge company 
This is such a hectic time of year that we could all use a voucher for some pampering and relaxation. 
The good intentions of our previous gift suggestions may make the soul feel warm and fuzzy, but the body might need something a little more material to keep the winter chills out. Send the gift of comfort and joy with 
When is the gift of weight loss, forty one pounds of weight loss to be precise, not likely to insult its recipient? While a gift membership in Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig may well seem like a big fat insult to many on your Christmas list, whatever their body type, we're sure they would be delighted to receive the service provided by 
Courtesy of Daily Mantra, you now have a smattering of alternative gift ideas (with a slew still to come, for ongoing inspiration). Some of the pressure is off, and pieces are falling into place. So let's take a moment to explore how this holiday gift-giving frenzy begin?
I'll admit it: I used to be a hardcore scrapper. And there's something pretty fantastic about gifting your loved one with painstakingly crafted pages of photographs, notes, and other mementos, whether of trips taken, or lives lead. But in this frenzied season of holiday parties and seemingly endless shopping, who has time for hours of cropping, matting, and assembling? Enter: the online scrapbook.
Carbon offsetting is the environmental equivalent of going to confessional. Obviously it's much better not to have sinned in the first place, but, if you do, a few Hail Mary's can certainly help atone for your misdeeds, taking the weight of the sin off your soul.