{"id":7866,"date":"2011-06-03T14:21:44","date_gmt":"2011-06-03T18:21:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/idolchatter\/?p=7866"},"modified":"2011-06-03T14:21:44","modified_gmt":"2011-06-03T18:21:44","slug":"this-weeks-inspirational-pop-culture-moments-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2011\/06\/this-weeks-inspirational-pop-culture-moments-5.html","title":{"rendered":"This Week’s Inspirational Pop Culture Moments"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Amy and Nancy Harrington, Pop Culture Passionistas<\/a><\/p>\n

A rock star unites with puppets, an author urges fans to light a candle and a TV mainstay turns to the world wide web. Here are this week\u2019s most inspirational pop culture moments.<\/p>\n

Elvis Costello and the Muppets Perform at a Benefit Gala<\/strong><\/p>\n

This week Elvis Costello took the stage with the Muppets at the Sesame Workshop’s<\/a> ninth annual benefit dinner. The rocker performed \u201cAlison\u201d solo before being joined by Grover, Cookie Monster, Abby Cadabby, Telly Monster, Zoe and Kami for a rousing rendition of \u201cWhat\u2019s So Funny About Peace, Love and Understanding.\u201d The evening, emceed by ABC\u2019s Deborah Roberts, honored Charles MacCormack, President and CEO of Save the Children and celebrated the impact of the Sesame Workshop\u2019s innovative health education programs.<\/p>\n

The gala raised over $2.2 million to help fund the Workshop’s projects around the world. This sum, along with funds earned from the sales of Sesame Street merchandise, grants, sponsorships and philanthropy, will allow the Workshop to continue with their charitable efforts. Each year they help countless children around the globe in initiatives like unity through diversity training in Indonesia, literacy-learning in Nigeria, reducing the stigma of HIV\/AIDS in South Africa, fighting Malaria in Tanzania or and combatting childhood obesity right here in the U.S.<\/p>\n

The president and CEO of Sesame Workshop, Gary E. Knell, said, \u201cOur gala was centered on our core message of giving simple and accessible strategies to help parents and caregivers build healthy behaviors in children and ensure that they grow into strong adults.\u201d<\/p>\n

Light a Candle with J.K. Rowling<\/strong><\/p>\n

This week, in honor of International Children’s Day, Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling encouraged her fans to take part in her Light a Birthday Candle<\/a> campaign. The initiative raises funds and awareness for the millions of children in Europe who live in institutionalized care.<\/p>\n

Rowling’s charity, Lumos<\/a>, organized the campaign as a way to bring happiness to these disadvantaged kids. The Lumos website reads, “Separated from their families and isolated from their community, these children receive little human or emotional contact. Year after year the staff who look after them cannot provide the individual attention they need so desperately, meaning they don\u2019t have access to the educational or social activities we take for granted \u2013 from attending school to marking each passing year by celebrating a birthday.” There are three ways to help:<\/p>\n

1) Donate. Visit the Lumos website and click on the “Light a Birthday Candle” link to make an online donation.<\/p>\n

2) Bake and take. Organize a workplace bake sale to raise funds for the kids.<\/p>\n

3) Tea and cake: Host an afternoon tea to make money for the cause \u2014 this is a British charity after all.<\/p>\n

The organization hopes that by taking part in the Light a Birthday Candle for Lumos this Children’s Day, that these kids will have a proper celebration in the years to come.<\/p>\n

Tori Spelling Takes Her Message to the World Wide Web<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tori Spelling is a self-promotion machine. The former teen star of her dad\u2019s hit series \u201cBeverly Hills, 90210\u201d has become a mini-mogul over the past few years. She and her husband Dean McDermott have had not one, not two, but three reality shows \u2013 \u201cInn Love,\u201d \u201cHome Sweet Hollywood\u201d and, most recently, \u201csTORIbook Weddings.\u201d She\u2019s become a best selling author of books for adults and kids with \u201csTORI Telling,\u201d \u201cMommywood,\u201d \u201cPresenting Tallulah\u201d and \u201cuncharted terriTORI.\u201d Plus she has her own jewelry line, kids clothing collection and L.A. area storefront called invenTORI.<\/p>\n

Now she\u2019s bringing her multi-tasking skills to the world wide web, hoping to motivate people everywhere to live their lives with a little flair. The site is split into sections like \u201cStyle,\u201d \u201cDwell,\u201d \u201cEat,\u201d \u201cEntertain,\u201d \u201cCraft,\u201d \u201cLive,\u201d \u201cRaise\u201d and \u201cLove.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Tori says in her welcome blog, \u201cThe details of daily life add up to who we are – so, why not strive to be inspired?\u201d So her mission is simple and springs from her \u201cdesire to share ideas and inspiration for elevating everyday life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Perhaps the most invigorating area of the website will be \u201cRaise,\u201d in which the soon-to-be mother of three hopes to \u201cshare my tips for navigating the choppy waters of modern mommyhood. I can\u2019t wait to hear how all you hot mamas balance everything!\u201d<\/p>\n

But even non-parents will be able to relate to \u201cLive,\u201d where Tori intends to share, \u201cadvice for keeping stress in check and staying in tune with yourself: body, spirit, mind\u2026oh, and all the little voices in your head.\u201d<\/p>\n

Visit the newly launched ediTORIal at torispelling.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Amy and Nancy Harrington, Pop Culture Passionistas A rock star unites with puppets, an author urges fans to light a candle and a TV mainstay turns to the world wide web. Here are this week\u2019s most inspirational pop culture moments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":303,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6,7,8,4,1],"tags":[1265,373,1886,1885,1887],"class_list":["post-7866","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-celebrities","category-entertainment","category-music","category-pop-culture","category-television","tag-harry-potter","tag-elvis-costello","tag-j-k-rowling","tag-sesame-street","tag-tori-spelling"],"yoast_head":"\nThis Week's Inspirational Pop Culture Moments<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2011\/06\/this-weeks-inspirational-pop-culture-moments-5.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"This Week's Inspirational Pop Culture Moments\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"by Amy and Nancy Harrington, Pop Culture Passionistas A rock star unites with puppets, an author urges fans to light a candle and a TV mainstay turns to the world wide web. 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