Yahoo!7 Answers Australia

Last week we asked you to share an original poetry piece with us in honour of World Poetry Day and the season of Autumn. Thank you to everyone who participated. Who knew we had so many wonderful poets in our Answers community!

As promised, we wanted to award the author of the winning poem 100 points and the 3 runner-ups 50 points! See below for the winners:

Winner: Justice of the Poetical Piece – 100 points!

Autumn Leaves

Autumn days, they do come and do go,
During that time there is much to show,
Coloured leaves falling all on the street,
Quietly dropping and ever so discrete.

Red ones, yellow ones, and some are just brown,
Here and there, everywhere, in country and town,
Windswept, swirling, scattering in the wind,
Some caught under debris and are just pinned.

As the days go the leaves gather on the ground,
Building like a mountain rather than a mound.
Children playfully kick at them, up into the air
Autumn leaves fly around with no wanting or a care.

Runner-up: mtheoryrules – 50 points!

Autumn don’t leave me

they were the yellow, red, and orange
of an auburn orgy
golden individuals
some rusty brown at their edges
winters kiss would sweep them up in a breeze
baring them to some distant crumbled fate
but those that remained would gossip
speaking scandal in hushed rattled whispers
and each day there were fewer still
as the stragglers slowly surrendered
to the occupation of a seasons tyranny
then she was the only one remaining
clinging to life valiantly, holding fast
but the day came when she too fell
the final hope of autumn gone at last

Runner-up: Brigitta – 50 points!

Autumn

is it in your eyes again
that change of time and
mornings filled with mist
behold

sunsets longer
mornings colder
and memories on leaves
falling from trees

I hear the songs
deep from the sea
another season coming home.

Runner-up: Wolfgang Quinlan – 50 points!

An Ode to Autumn

Once healthy leaves, wither and die.
Turning red, and falling,
To the hard unforgiving ground
to be swept away in the wind

The dead swept away,
like a tsunami of misery,
in a world that knows only pain.
This is my world.

Darkness looms on the horizon.
Winter begins to set in.
The draining cold, seeps at my very soul.
Autumn – the season of our misery.

Well done to our winner and runners up! And thanks once a gain to everyone who submitted a poem, they were wonderful to read.

Kate
Community Manager

On Saturday, March 26, 2011, at 8:30p.m., major cities and countries are encouraged to turn off their lights for one whole hour. Do you plan to participate in Earth Hour 2011?

Earth Hour started in 2007 in Sydney, Australia, in order to take a stand against climate change. Earth Hour 2010 became the biggest Earth Hour ever with 128 countries participating and landmarks across the country stood in darkness.

This year, WWF is encouraging everyone to go beyond the hour. Whether it’s turning off the AC and opening the windows or cutting back on water and taking shorter showers, one single action from you can help lead to a more sustainable Earth, even when the lights come back on!

If you do plan on participating, help spread the word through Facebook, Twitter or even YouTube. So start here and tell us what you plan to do for Earth Hour 2011.

“On Earth Hour 2011, I plan on….”

Thanks for reading,

Kate
Community Manager

Photo by dicktay2000.

Do you love and appreciate poetry? Have you ever tried putting some rhymes together? There could be no better time to start practicing!

In 1999, UNESCO declared March 21st as World Poetry Day to support linguistic diversity and promote the reading, writing, publishing and teaching of poetry to help preserve this historic art in the digital era.

Every day many people submit their works in the Poetry category on Yahoo!7 Answers and ask the community for feedback and advice. You don’t need to be a pro to express yourself! For example check out these contributions from Lou Lou and Gloria.

To celebrate both the event and the poets within the community we invite you to use your inspiration and compose a short piece of poetry on the theme “Autumn”, which is the season we are currently experiencing down here in Australia.

Please share your best original works by answering this question:

• Ode to Autumn: could you please share your original piece of poetry?

The author of the best answer will be awarded 100 Answers points and the 3 runner ups will receive 50 bonus points each. We will then include the best contributions in a post on our Answers blog and on our Facebook page.

Good luck!

Photo by fsse8info.

It’s Monday here in Australia, which signals the beginning of the work or school week for most of us.

The shrill screech of the alarm clock greeted many of this morning, rubbing the sleep from our eyes whilst yawning and simultaneously switching our brains into gear. Showers, breakfast, coffee, juice, tea, morning papers, rushing, shuffling the kids off to daycare and school… all are standard parts of our morning routine, followed by the dreaded commute.

Sydney has experienced a weekend of storms and sheets of rain, so my own commute into the city across the Anzac Bridge took a little longer in the pouring rain this morning. Thankfully I was in the car and able to relax a little more than some of my colleagues who had experienced bus and rail delays, and escaped most of the drenching they experienced walking to work.

When I woke up this morning and heard the rain, I automatically made the decision to drive rather than brave the walk to the ferry or the station, or to ride my bike in (the rain was really torrential just before 7am!). The road seemed to have more drivers than usual, yet others in the office here said the trains and buses were packed more than was normal.

This got me thinking, what influences us on the choice of transport we use to commute to work…

• What types of transport do you use in your daily commute & how do factors like weather influence your choice?

Let us know what you think, by leaving a comment below or answering the question above!

Kate
Community Manager

Photo by tibbygirl.

It’s another year to celebrate the wearing of the green and the remotest drop of Irish blood in your veins – St Patrick’s Day!

This day is generally observed the world over in some form, be it by attending mass, drinking green beer or wearing something green to work or school. You can read a little here about how my family observe the day.

St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated on March 17th, which marks the feast day of St. Patrick in the Catholic faith and interestingly, is also the anniversary of his death in the 5th century. And you know what? St. Patrick himself wasn’t even Irish, he was born in Scotland and then captured as a youth by raiders from Britain and taken to Ireland, which adds to the general appeal of not just the Irish marking the holiday. You can read a little bit about the origins behind St. Patrick’s Day on the question I asked last year.

So no matter your heritage, don a bit of green and celebrate along with us – Happy St. Patrick’s Day all!

Kate
Community Manager

Photo by Sarah Korf.

Today is Ash Wednesday, which marks the beginning of Lent for many Christian religions, including those of Roman Catholic faith. It falls immediately after Shrove Tuesday, better known as Pancake Day.

What exactly is Ash Wednesday?

There appear to be several ideas about the day… According to top contributor, 4Wheels, “Ash Wednesday is the first day of the fast. You give up something you enjoy for 40 days and 40 nights. It lasts until Easter.” And LOL! that was so like not funny, states that “Ash wednesday is the beginning of Lent. Which is the 40 days before easter. This is a religious celebration. When you go to church they will use palms from the last palm sunday and burn them. Then they use the ashes and make a sign of the cross on your forehead.”

nicola278 goes into a bit more detail… ” Lent is a special time when we prepare for Good Friday and Easter. We prepare by paying more attention than usual to our lives as Christians. Shrove Tuesday is a day when people used to eat and celebrate a bit before starting Lent. During lent we often give something up such as candy or television. We do this for 2 reasons: a) this helps strengthen our willpower for when we really need to say no to temptation. Just like throwing a basketball or doing math, saying no is something we get better at with practice. Saying no to a chocolate bar or our favourite TV show is hard but it helps us prepare for when we are faced with even greater temptation (perhaps in our teenage years.) Reason 2) Just as Jesus sacrificed his life for us, we make a small sacrifice to be a bit like him, to show how we appreciate his sacrifice.” You can read more of nicola278‘s answer here.

What are the ashes for?

First we should know what they are made of, Fancy You thinks they from “the leaves of a palm tree… I always thought they were the left over Blessed Palms from Palm Sunday.”

solarius is able to provide us a more indepth answer:

The ashes are a symbol of repentance and sorrow for one’s sins. They are made from the burned palms from the previous Palm Sunday. In the Old Testament, repentant people wore sackcloth and sat in ashes (or smudged themselves with ashes). It is also symbolic of one’s mortality.

Edit: Most people wash the ashes off right after the service, although I know some people who wear them all day. My mother always wore them until one minute after midnight on Thursday (in other words, until Ash Wednesday was truly over).

What about fasting and not eating meat?

Check out the following:

• Are you allowed to drink water while fasting on Ash Wednesday?
• Can I eat fish during Ash Wednesday?
• Can we eat chicken on ash Wednesday?
• Can I eat meat on ash wednesday?

Well there you have it, we now know a bit more about a significant event in many people’s faiths!

Are you giving up anything for Lent? If so, let us know by leaving a comment below!

Kate
Community Manager

When you share your thoughts on Yahoo!7, you have the potential to reach more than half a billion people around the globe. Together, you can share stories, exchange ideas, and even change the world, but it’s important to know how to share safely online.

As our latest example of How Good Grows on Yahoo!, we’re encouraging you to share what matters to you, safely. We’ll be posting questions over the next few months to give you the opportunity to share your answers with the Yahoo!7 community.

In celebration of International Women’s Day, join us in kicking off the program by telling the world about a woman (across the globe, across the room, or across the ages) who amazes you.  Share your thoughts at howgoodgrows.safely.yahoo.com, and see what people around the world are saying. Then keep coming back to the site to see other women who’ve made their mark.

• Which woman do you admire the most and why?

International Women’s Day is just one opportunity you’ll have to share safely. Keep your eyes open for more opportunities to share:

• Mother’s Day (May 8th)
• International Children’s Day (June 1st)

Join us in sharing what’s important to you. Spread the word, and watch How Good Grows on Yahoo!.

-Yahoo! for Good Team

C’mon, join the fun. Enter the Yahoo! Messenger Faceoff Contest Today!

Do you love emoticons as much as our 500,000+ Yahoo! Messenger Facebook fans do? From now through to March 18th, show us your best emoticon impression for a chance to have your face turned into a brand new Yahoo! Messenger emoticon to be added to the Yahoo! Messenger emoticon gallery.

Check out the Yahoo! Messenger Faceoff Contest on our Facebook fan page.  Join the fun by simply submitting a photo of yourself imitating your favourite emoticon. Then encourage friends and family to vote for your submission in the Faceoff gallery or to submit their own photos if they think they can do better!  After two rounds of voting, the winner with the most votes will have their face turned into a brand new emoticon for the world to use.

Go ahead – show the world your best smiley! If you’re too shy to submit a photo, visit the Faceoff gallery to vote for your favourites and support your friends.

Which emoticon are YOU?

- Yahoo! Messenger Team

The fine print: This contest is open to anyone in the world, not just US residents, so what are you waiting for! -Kate, Community Manager.

Last year on Yahoo!7 Answers, we celebrated the birthday of Theodor Seuss Geisel aka “Dr. Seuss”!

He was born way back in 1904, but by the time of his death in 1991 he had written over sixty books and captured the imaginations of countless generations of adults and children alike.

The words, the pictures, the outlandish ideas and tongue twisters created an amazing world for children of all ages.

In honour of his birthday, we’d like to know the following:

• What is your favourite verse from a Dr. Seuss book and why?

Did you have a favourite Dr. Seuss book growing up? Leave a comment below!

Kate
Community Manager

Photo by Shazster.

One week ago today, a 6.3 magnitude earthquake hit the New Zealand city of Christchurch and surrounding Canterbury region.

At approximately 10:51am this morning, Australia came to a standstill as two minutes silence was observed in memory of the victims of the disaster. The death toll currently stands at 154, including two Australians. It is expected that it will rise as high as 240 in the coming days.

Photo by martinluff.

The figures from the quake are staggering:

• More than 10,000 people are homeless, their houses damaged beyond repair and due to be torn down. A further 100,000 homes are in desperate need of repair to make them safe to inhabit.
• About 6,000 downtown businesses are shut with no chance of reopening on location any time soon.
• On top of that comes news that 50,000 people have fled the city on flights since last Tuesday.
• A further 20,000 are expected to join them by the weekend. Business leaders fear if the exodus continues, it will cripple any attempts to rebuild the city.
• The New Zealand government has estimated the financial toll at between $NZ10 to $NZ15 billion ($A7.4 to $A11.1 billion) – two to three times the $NZ5 billion ($A3.7 billion) estimated cost of September’s 7.1-magnitude quake.

There is also speculation the central business district of Christchurch may have to be razed and rebuilt, rather than repairs be attempted with most buildings beyond rescuing. The Australian Red Cross is currently accepting donations, should you wish to assist in some manner.

Be sure to check out the amazing photos on Flickr of the aftermath of the earthquake, taken by our New Zealand Flickr photographers:

• New Zealand Earthquake – 1
• New Zealand Earthquake – 2
• New Zealand Earthquake – 3
• Day-to-day in Christchurch, NZ
• NZ Earthquake Relief

Kate
Community Manager