“Why do you think that is Riley?” Asks her father. “Well, the companies that makes these toys try to trick the girls into buying the pink stuff, instead of stuff the boys want to buy, right?”

Apart from her little frustrated rant being adorably cute, she makes a very deep point that one London based toy store has taken to heart.

“Hamleys has removed “sexist” signs dividing its toys into boys and girls departments after being accused of gender stereotyping. The world famous London toy store has scrapped pink and blue signs and replaced them with gender neutral red and white ones. The Regent Street store now categories toys by interest and type rather than whether they are aimed at boys or girls after an online campaign.”

Little Riley is already quite a self actualized young lady, who in her naive way, is concerned about gender politics. She understands what the Yin Yang Blend™ wave is all about.  It’s about balancing the sexes. The Human Truth™ is: “We see the line between the sexes as dotted.”™ I personally like the direction Hamley’s has taken. I think when we categorize girls and boys toys so distinctly we send a message about what is “right” or “normal”.

Like little Riley says: “Some girls like super heroes and some boys like princesses!”. Here’s to a future where kids can be attracted to things based solely on their personal interests, and not which aisle of the store it’s in.

For £12 a night during this holiday season people can bed down with Buggins the donkey and, by the looks of it, sleep on a bed of hay.

“And for anyone not keen on forgoing their modern conveniences it even has wireless internet and ‘mood’ lighting. Shepherd costumes and bath towels are available at an additional cost, but traditional ‘Christmas lessons’ are free of charge.”

Now before you get all bah humbug and say this is cashing in on Christmas, you should know that the host couple are both doctors who intend to donate any money they make to Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research.

The stable to manger transformation was the idea of their daughter-in-law whose aunt died of leukaemia. Their hope is to re-ignite peoples understanding of the spirit and story of Christmas while donating to a good cause.

The Inner Balance™ wave is about finding a deeper meaning. Here we have a family that wants to do just that. The festive season can mean drunken office parties, crazed holiday sales and bickering at the dinner table to many people. The Human Truth™ of this wave is: “Without meaning, what’s the point?”™ As I suffer through some hideously garish TV advertising while I write this, I find myself asking the same thing.

I mean seriously, T Mobile, “Walking in a 4G wonderland”?? Yeesh! (My friends all agree it sounds like “orgy wonderland”, so at least we get a snigger.)

JCPenney’s “Pennies from Heaven” campaign uses a JCP Rewards incentive, a custom website and TV and print ads to support local after-school programs. Along with this, the company also launched the “Daydreamer” campaign featuring direct mail, email, online display, TV and print ads. “Daydreamer” promotes kids’ creative aspirations while highlighting the retailer’s back-to-school clothing line.”

Macy’s partnered with a youth volunteer organization called DoSomething.org. “The in-house initiative is using direct mail, email, mobile and social media to urge youths to participate in volunteer activities. 
 “We have been interested in doing something in cause marketing for youth and Millennial customers for awhile,” said Holly Thomas, VP of media relations and cause marketing at Macy’s. “They’re active and want to support brands that are doing something to make a difference.”

Personally, I’m unsure whether our young’uns are self-actualized enough to grasp the Human Truth of Giving Back™ which is: “When you give, you also receive.” However, I’m pretty sure they understand, and are wanting to embrace the essence of the wave, which is a simple truism: “Making the world a better place.” Just like Obama, they are are inheriting quite a few challenges.

This time, I noticed almost EVERYONE in the crowd raised their smartphone and began recording a video or snapping a pic.  Ok, I get wanting to snap a pic and share it with your friends… “look, I am at this awesome gig!!” Sure.

However, the videography lasted the whole gig… there was a girl in front of me getting an audio recording on her blackberry. Really?

I couldn’t help thinking, are you actually going to go home and listen to that crappy, overblown recording tonight? Are you guys really going to upload these poor quality, shaky videos with terrible audio to youtube? How about just live in the moment and go home and have awesome memories of a full bodied experience?

And it’s not just music concerts. I watched baseball’s Game 7 and every time they cut to the crowd, people were recording and watching the game through their phones!

If they didn’t, perhaps we wouldn’t have some of the amazing viral videos that we see where something really unexpected happens, but that surely can’t be the reason. Not everyone is filming every event they attend on the off-chance that some thing will go terribly wrong or awesomely right?

To use the famous hippy words of Ram Dass, why can’t we just: Be. Here. Now.

It reminded me of the Inner Balance wave’s Human Truth™, which is: “Without meaning, what’s the point.”™ My feelings on all this concert/event videography is that it takes you out of the live experience…which leads me to say: what’s the point?

Why pay for gas, battle traffic, find a parking, navigate crowds, line up for restrooms etc etc, if you are watching the whole thing through the back of a smart phone? Perhaps in our endeavors to capture the moment, we are actually missing the moment?

In recent weeks I’ve seen stories about: “mandals” (male sandals), “murses” (purses), “mantyhose” (pantyhose), “mankinis” (swimsuit variants), “manties” (male panties), “manscara” (male mascara)

Now we have Guylashes….yep, male eyelashes.

“Eylure – a brand endorsed by Girls Aloud and stocked in stores across the UK from Boots to Harrods – are selling fake eyelashes for men priced at £4.75 a pair.Wearers can choose from thick or fine varieties,which are designed to be discreet with invisible clear plastic sticky strips and both styles promise to recreate that ‘Hollywood gaze’.

Any music fan understands that it’s not just a “gay thing”. Its a form of expression that doesn’t like rules. The people that embrace the Yin Yang Blend™ wave know the Human Truth™ of this wave: “We see the line between sexes as dotted.”™

Well co-incidentally I came across this new app that is hoping to be pro-active about the problem.. and at the very least get people thinking and talking about this terrible issue.

“With the Made in a Free World app, you can check in at stores, asking brands about slavery in their supply chain as you shop. Please use it to encourage brands to look into where their raw materials are coming from. Then share your check-ins so your friends will also help. Earn Free World points when you get the app and use it to counteract your slavery footprint”

Now, I have feeling (knowing my friend), this might get an eye-roll from him too. But perhaps he’d just want to know more about these “Free World Points”… maybe that’s exactly the kind of pro-active ideas he’s talking about?

The point of the Giving Back™ wave is to make the world a better place. It’s such a lofty ideal that many don’t try. However, over the years I have watched the entrepreneurial spirit in the online world and philanthropic causes merge in a very positive way. When we make it easy to give …most people rise to the challenge. My heart has been warmed, many times over monitoring this wave, seems more and more people are living the Human Truth™: “When you give, you also receive.”™

It was a brook where the water flowed over round pebbles and larger stones, polished smooth by the passage of time.  Upon closer inspection there was beauty in this scene that wasn’t made by nature.  What we were seeing was a cairn.

“From early civilization to the present, cairns have been created for both practical and meaningful reasons. Often created simply as directional markers pointing the way home or to safety, the cairns are also a symbol of the spirit of friendship and hope. The rock sculptures were built by those who had been down a path, to mark the way for others to follow. Today, the creation of rock cairns and stone balancing is pursued by many as an art form and as a meditation practice.”

As one stone balancer says: “My initial attraction was the good feeling it gave me; the meditative aspect is relaxing…” he then goes on to talk about how he likes when crowds gather to watch and how he sometimes likes to think that the gravitational threads keeping the rocks in balance are “beacons that radiate and collect positive energy to and from people, into Mother Earth.”

Moment Momentum™ is about doing things that slow down the pace of life.  It’s about going off the clock and finding a way to switch off from our day to day chores, work and distractions.  While it may seem unusual to some, I think building rock towers is a perfect example of the Human Truth™ of this wave which is:  “One must take time to reflect”

“Society expects girls to be girlie, nice and pretty and boys to be manly, rough and outgoing,” says Jenny Johnsson, a 31-year-old teacher. “Egalia gives them a fantastic opportunity to be whoever they want to be.”

The school is unusual even for the progressive and egalitarian culture of Sweden.  The Yahoo! News article quotes a disapproving child psychologist (from the University of California mind you, not Sweden) that worries  it may lead to “emasculating maleness”.

“Nearly all the children’s books deal with homosexual couples, single parents or adopted children. There are no “Snow White,” ”Cinderella” or other classic fairy tales seen as cementing stereotypes.” I would find that appealing as someone that would wish to raise my child without the indoctrination of “the princess myth.”

Yin Yang Blend™is about balancing the sexes.  The people who fall into this wave tout the Human Truth™ as their daily mantra:  “We see the line between the sexes as dotted.” While this wave may never become entirely mainstream, when you think of how much this trend has grown- even in the past 5 years, it’s certainly interesting to keep an eye on.

I was too busy thinking of the sun, surf, crazy sights & sounds of LA LA LAND.  Well, I have lived here on and off over the last 10 years and one thing that has struck me on this particular return, is the impact of the legalization of marijuana.  The American spirit of jumping on any opportunity for capitalistic gain, to me, is inspiring.  Some would make a different case entirely but lets just say: “Haters gon’ hate” and move on.

Suffice to say I wasn’t surprised when I heard about 420 Yoga classes.  (420 being code for pot… a code that hardly seems necessary anymore.)

“Students are expected to medicate in their cars before class in the parking lot, as no drugs are consumed or distributed in the studio.  Early arrivals, fresh off their parking lot endeavors, are greeted in the concrete courtyard outside the studio by McDonald wielding a spurting hose or offering tea and fresh organic cherries from Trader Joe’s. “Do you feel hugged? Do you need a hug?” she asks you. McDonald and Manger think that more traditional yogis who see marijuana as a toxin that inhibits enlightenment rather than enhancing it are being “yogier-than-thou.”

I know first hand that Yogi’s are serious business when it comes to fasting, discipline, rigid adherence
to form, and all kinds of cleansing yourself mentally, physically and spiritually.  So for people who are seeking to EXTEND THE NOW, in a more casual way this would be a way to slow down the pace of life without dogma.

One student says he and his wife come to 4:20 Remedy Yoga as often as they can. “It’s nice to sort of, you know, stretch out a Sunday,” he says. Being able to procure a legal prescription for marijuana strongly influenced his decision to move to LA last year, he told me. “I think marijuana creates an inquisitiveness, a stillness, something that allows you to concentrate on one thing at a time. And tactile sensations feel better, so as you’re stretching everything basically feels good.”

Moment Momentum™ is a wave about escaping the hub bub, and surrendering to a peaceful moment.  If you can do that legally, in an environment that facilitates good vibes then… 420 yoga could be just what the doctor ordered.

Yeh… Didn’t think so.

That’s right folks one man is doing a challenge so great, that it’s almost inconceivable.

Jacob French, an intrepid Aussie, is walking across Australia while wearing Star Wars stormtrooper armor for Starlight Children’s Foundation -a  non-profit organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for children with chronic and life-threatening medical conditions.

“Starting in July 2011 I aim to walk from Perth (Western Australia) to Sydney (New South Wales). Over the course of the trek I will cross 4 states and cover approximately 5000km’s in modified stormtrooper armor. The plan for now is to push a lightweight buggy with needed supplies an average distance of 35-40km’s for 5 days a week until the trek is complete.”

That’s about 25 miles a day which will make up 3,107miles total.  That’s a few hundred miles off LA to NYC… and most of it’s the outback.

Why a Storm Trooper you ask? Well that’s simple, it’s his hobby:  “I am a member of the worldwide “501st Legion”, a volunteer organization that wears quality star wars outfits for Star Wars related events and as a means to contribute to their local communities through charity work. My involvement with the 501st Legion has been a fantastic experience and I have had plenty of opportunities to put on my suit of armor and entertain the public.”

Giving Back™ is about making the world a better place.  The Human Truth™ is:  “When we are giving, our lives have more meaning.”™

Jacob French, or should I say “TK-6283 “  has found a way to merge his giving back with his fandom, and I really think the Force Is With Him.

Follow his trek and donate here.