Is there anyone out there that can watch a film set in Southern Europe without thinking “I WISH I lived there?”

Good News for YOU- The guys at vodkasoda.com tell us how YOU TOO, can own a villa in the Sicilian town of Salemi for only 1 euro. Apparently many of the coastal buildings were rocked by an earthquake 40 years ago, and all you have to do is fix the darned things up! ( try watching Under the Tuscan Sun for a little inspiration before you jump in). It’s the bright idea of the local mayor - Vittorio Sgarbi.

For the article:

http://vodkasoda.wordpress.com/

…as if you could only choose 10 things!

Have you been watching? Perhaps you’ve missed the all-around Rhythmic Gymnastics Finals? You’re OFF the ball, catch them Sunday!

1. Jamaica will surely have the biggest post-Olympics party in the world after claiming 4 sprint Golds - Usain Bolt - 100m, 200m, Veronica Campbell 200m, and Shelly Ann Fraser 100m (the entire Island will be surely be invited as the population clocks in at 2.7million people).
2. Michael Phelps will hope he’s allowed extra baggage claims, as he brings home 8 gold medals and the possible title “Greatest Olympian Ever” (and possibly cutest)
3. Team Great Britain shows that living in a country surrounded by freezing cold water can actually be a good thing - among they’re 18 gold medals so far- Ben Ainslie took his 3rd sailing gold (which many believe gives HIM the title Greatest Olympian Ever), Rebecca Adlington took the 400m and 800m freestyle (world record) for GB’s first swimming medal in 48 years, and James, Williams, Reed and Hodge beat injury to win gold in rowing.
4. Coming from war-torn Afghanistan , Rohullah Nikpai wins the country’s first medal - Bronze in Taekwondo, and will be rewarded with a new house courtesy of the government.
5. The girls win China’s First Team Gold in Gymnastics, and the world realizes, yet-again, that people from China are small. (sorry, girls, I get this all the time too “how old are you? you’ve got to be kidding…but you’re so LITTLE.) Short people of the world, unite www.shortsupport.org !
6. Carli Lloyd scores for the US Women’s Soccer team and beats Brazil for Olympic Gold (yes, Brazil! I know! Crazy!)
7. With BBC’s “Little Red Button ” Britain’s BBC TV shows 24 hours a day of 7 different sports of Olympics, rankings, results, and special features at the same time with a push of a little button on your remote control. They win - Best Olympics Coverage for the Obsessive Olympics watcher (not it!).
8. Dutch swimmer, Maarten van der Weijden , survives Leukemia to win gold in the 10k Open Water in… the…RAIN. He squashes all future echoes of “i just caaaannn”’ttttt make it to the gym today, I’ve got this funny little pain in my arm - as does #9…
9. Amputee Natalie du Toit , 24 years old from South Africa - was the first amputee to compete in the Olympics, placing 16th in the 6.2 mile open swim. An athlete all of her life, she was destined for the Olympics when she had a motorcycling accident in 2001. She got back in the water only 6 months later and has not stopped competing in swimming since.
10. BMX is cool - gruesome and bloody but totally cool - Anne-Caroline Chausso of France becomes the first female gold medalist in the sport, and Maris Strombergs of Latvia takes the men’s gold.

Not only have the Olympics taught us that there are more than 200 countries in the world (damn, that’s a lot of flags to memorize) and that Chinese people are not all short, (but even if they are, it’s OK), they’ve also shown us just how fun the party can be when the world gets together in one little city.

Thanks for the entertainment!

What makes up your list of good things about the Olympics?

Okay, good news is subjective. This is clear. But quirky news is also inherently good, you have to agree (no?). Newsoftheweird.com and wallstreetjournal.com reported that self-help books are taking Iran by storm. Over 70% of Iran’s 65 million people are under the age of 30. In addition to, and sometimes instead of, turning to the Quran when they need a little life-pick-me-up, they turn to their local bookstores. The Secret, translated into Farsi (Dam, I wish I wrote that book!) currently tops the best-sellar lists and the nationally-controlled tv station, Channel Four - has showed the accompanying video 4 times.

In addition to The Secret, there are dozens of self-help magazines, and they even have their own celebrity self-help guru - Dr. Alireza Azmandian, who created The Techonology of Thought and who gives seminars all over Iran.

Bahktiar Khazee, interviewed by the WSJ, begins every morning by listening to Dr. Azmandian. He was quoted as saying- “I used to think every thing was God’s will,” he says. But “now I don’t think this way any more. I know that whatever I set my mind on achieving will happen.”

Denmark has once again been named the Happiest Place on Earth. This has yet to cause a problem for Disney publicists.

The nation of Hamlet was given the award based on its general peacefulness, social programs and abundance of attractive people (the last one is not true, but starring at attractive people all day probably does make the population happier).

Puerto Rico and Colombia were given second and third place. Which is good news for Americans (ranked 16^th) since Puerto Rico is close enough to evacuate to. Colombia’s rank comes as a bit of a surprise for a nation known for its long-term kidnappings.

In last place – no surprise: Zimbabwe. That’s one ballot not even the government of Zimbabwe could manage to rig.

The top 10 happiest countries are:

1. Denmark
2. Puerto Rico
3. Colombia
4. Iceland
5. North Ireland
6. Ireland
7. Switzerland
8. Netherlands
9. Canada
10. Austria

http://www.reuters.com/article/africaCrisis/idUSN30454695

Mars - a possible solution to the Midwest crop disaster of 2008? Maybe, if asparagus was on the list of “crops destroyed”.

Turns out, the Mars Phoenix (science geeks can follow the intrepid robot’s footsteps here: http://twitter.com/MarsPhoenix) has discovered that the soil on the red planet is alkaline, and therefore very good for growing asparagus.

Phoenix, who is currently the world’s second most famous robot (seriously lagging being Wall E) also notes that among other elements, the soil contains Magnesium, Sodium and Potassium.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7477310.stm

The coolest thing about this article? That the author got to use the word “flabbergasted” twice. That is awesomely good journalism.