Embracing Life: One seat belt at a time

Courtesy myparkingsign.com

“Safety on our highways has improved significantly, with the help of the Legislature and the media.” ~ Jane D. Hull ~

Once in awhile the advertising community does more than promote products – they promote public awareness on issues of great importance, and such is the advert, which appears at the bottom of this post.

Each year, thousands of people worldwide will lose their lives in automobile accidents; many of those fatalities could be prevented by simply wearing a seat belt.

The public service commercial, EMBRACE LIFE has been viewed online more than 13 million times; its message is stunning and there is absolutely zero dialogue.

The advert, created independently by Alexander Commercials has gone on to win numerous awards.

Produced by Sarah Alexander and directed by award-winning filmmaker Daniel Cox, with music by Siddhartha Barnhoorn, this video features a family of three portrayed by Austin Spangler (Father), Lara Corrochano (Mother), and Clare Denning (Daughter).

 According to Cox, “Key to the film's creation was to focus on a message that didn't take a conventional route to shock and scare the audience; rather it was my intention to bring the audience in on the conversation of road safety, specifically seat belts, and the best way to do this was to make a film that could engage the viewer purely visually and could be seen and understood by all, whoever they are and wherever they lived."

In my humble opinion, Cox and his fellow filmmakers did an extraordinary job with a wordless message.

Thanks to SussexSaferRoads for posting this life-saving message.

Autumn fun: Pick-your-own-pumpkins a definitive guide

“Each year, the Great Pumpkin rises out of the pumpkin patch that he thinks is the most sincere. He's gotta pick this one. He's got to. I don't see how a pumpkin patch can be more sincere than this one. You can look around and there's not a sign of hypocrisy. Nothing but sincerity as far as the eye can see.”– Linus – from It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

If the weather is cooperating where you live, and if you’re looking for an entertaining and fun-filled afternoon, why not make an outing for the whole family and pick-your own pumpkin for Halloween?

To plan your trip, there’s a wonderful and comprehensive website, Pumpkin Patches and More, where you'll find a pumpkin patch near you, take a peek at what it’s like to traverse a corn maze (in daylight or at night) and locations for safe trick-or-treating, hayrides and more.

Be sure to scroll further down on all of the linked pages that have been provided and you’ll see listings for not only pumpkin picking in the United States, but pick-your-own-farms for many other fruits and vegetables in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

You’ll also find a super recipe for making pumpkin pie from scratch, information on pumpkin festivals and weigh-offs, and even a “how-to” for making a carved pumpkin last longer.

In the video below, P. Allen Smith, gardening maven, visits a pick-your-own site, and takes us on a quick historical tour about Halloween’s most popular vegetable-like fruit, the pumpkin.

If you’ve already purchased this year’s pumpkin but are still looking for another fun outing, check out my earlier post, It’s Apple Pickin’ Time: The Definitive Guide to pick your own apples nationwide – Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4.



For more fun seasonal offerings, be sure to visit my other website: Paula Slade: National Children's Entertainment

The iPad Challenge: Part Deux

On Friday, April 28, 2010, just four days after I posted The iPad Challenge:Cat, Dog or Man? Apple’s nifty little device made its way into the hands of its one-millionth customer, and as of yesterday, 3G and Wi-Fi pre-orders began for international markets with the first round of shipping to begin on May 28 to Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom - with more international markets to follow in July.

In the Cat, Dog or Man challenge, you were asked to determine who would best benefit from using Apple’s iPad based on the viral videos that were being circulated around the Internet.

According to your comments, it appears the ‘Cat’ won paws down, with pianist Lang Lang coming in a close second.

However, since the last post, two more contenders have entered the competition and they might just alter your opinions.

Our first competitor is a toddler who is barely 2.5 years of age. According to her father and the Telstar Logistics’ YouTube account where the video appears, he shares the following information: “A fascinating UI experiment. My daughter likes playing with my iPhone, but this was her very first encounter with an iPad. As you'll see, she took right to it... although she too wonders why it doesn't have a camera!"

Our second contender, 99 year-old Virginia Campbell was filmed at the Mary Woods Retirement Community in Oregon. Virginia is the widow of former Lake Oswego Mayor C. Herald Cambell, and this was her very first encounter with the unit, plus she’s never owned a computer or even a Kindle, and to top it off Virginia suffers from glaucoma.

Time to cast your votes – this one’s a real tough choice.

TODDLER



VIRGINIA CAMPBELL