Guide Dogs for the Blind

Hey everyone. Curiosity Quest is in full swing as we film new episodes. We have been traveling the country and working hard to make sure that we are getting the answers to your quests.

One of our recent quests brought us to San Rafael, California (just on the other side of the Golden Gate Bridge). We had the honor of touring the national headquarters of Guide Dogs for the Blind. I had the pleasure of meeting the valuable staff and trainers that educated me about how these amazing dogs are raised. Did you know that, at this particular facility, the puppies are born and they live there for 8 weeks where they are socialized with people and other dogs? They just get to be puppies. Adorable puppies, may I say? Most of the guide dogs are labs or golden retrievers. After 8 weeks they move to the homes of a volunteer where they will live for about a year and they become a puppy in training. After the year, the dog returns to begin official training to become a Guide Dog for the Blind. They will start to work with a trainer and will learn commands, how to keep their handler safe, and manage obstacles. Did you know that the dog is not leading the handler? The dog's roll is not to lead, but to keep the handler safe and be the guide to the handler's destination.

One of the highlights of the shoot was having the opportunity to be blindfolded and have Cherry, a yellow labrador, guide me through an obstacle course. Without my sight, my senses were heightened and I had to put my complete faith in Cherry to keep me safe. As you will see on this wonderful episode, Cherry kept me away from all obstacles.

The impression that I got was that everyone that works at Guide Dogs for the Blind loves what they do. Just walking through their offices I noticed how almost every employee had a dog sitting next to them at their desk. They love the animals and the people they assist.

The people that we interviewed that were blind, said that their lives changed for the better when they got their dog. The dog is not only their guide, but when the dog is not working, he/she is their companion.

I was touched by the people and amazed by the animals. I can't wait to share this episode with you. We will keep you posted as to when it will air.

In the meantime, keep writing your letters. We look forward to hearing from you.

Stay Curious

~Joel

This Week's Winners!

We have two more winners of our Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs prize package. This week's first letter came to us from Lola, 7 years old, from Wilmington, North Carolina. She wrote,

"Dear Curiosity Quest
I'm curious about how you make gummy worms. Are they really worms?
Lola"

Lola, How did you know that gummy worms are one of my favorite candies? I wonder how they are made too. Did you know that the candy company Trolli came out with the gummy worm in 1981. Gummy worms remain one of the top selling gummy items today.

Our next letter came to us from David, 6 years old, from West Covina, California. David wrote,

"Hi i'm a new kid of yours. I watch your show sometimes and I'm curious about marshmallows.
How do they make them."

David, one of my favorite things to do with my family is roast marshmallows in our fire pit at home. I hope that we can do a show on marshmallows soon, but in the meantime, did you know that Americans buy 90 million pounds of marshmallows each year, about the same weight as 1,286 gray whales. That is astounding! I am sure a couple of pounds of those are eaten at my house :)

Thank you to both of you for you letters. Congratulations!

If you would like your chance to win a Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs prize package, go to CuriosityQuest.org and click the "send us on a quest" link and tell us what you are curious about. Supplies are running out fast. We look forward to hearing from you soon. In the meantime:

Stay Curious

~Joel

Source: http://www.farleysandsathers.com and mallowmaster.com

Beautiful Wisconsin

Hey Guys! I just got back from the beautiful state of Wisconsin. What a trip we had. Thanks to your letters, we kicked off our first shoot learning how cranberries are harvested. This will go down as one of the shoots that was the most fun. Believe it or not, it snowed on us the entire shoot, but it did not damper our spirits. The good folks at Hableman Brothers Cranberry, Russell Rezin and Son's Cranberry Company and the Cranberry Discovery Center were incredibly kind and welcoming. We learned so much and had an absolute blast. Did you know that there are only 5 states in the country that grow cranberries? They are Massachusetts, Wisconsin, New Jersey, Oregon and Washington.

After the cranberries, we spent the next few days learning how to make a variety of cheeses. The Crave Brothers Farmstead Cheese showed us how cheese is made starting with milking the cows to making Le Freres and Petite Freres Cheese. From the Klondike Cheese Company we learned how to make Feta Cheese. Chalet Cheese Cooperative showed us how to make Limburger cheese from Master Cheesemaker Myron Olsen. And at Roth Kase USA we learned how to make Gruyere cheese. Did you know that they make over 600 kinds of cheese in Wisconsin alone? What a whirlwind trip. I have to say that I think my favorite of the four cheeses is the Gruyere, but I came back with a tremendous appreciation and an adventurous spirit when it comes to cheese.

This is a busy time for Curiosity Quest. We are currently filming 3-4 shows a week. We are having so much fun though. Tonight we will be heading to the Citizen's Bank Arena to learn how they change the floors after a basketball game and get it ready for a hockey game. It should be awesome!

Thank you to all of you for your continued support. Stay tuned for this weeks "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" prize package winners. In the meantime:

Stay Curious

~Joel

This Week's Winners!

We have two winners this week for our Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs prize package. Our first letter comes to us from Sara, 8 years old, in Los Angeles, Ca. She wrote:

"Dear Joel, How do they make flutes?" Thank you Sara. I would love to learn how flutes are made. Did you know that the flute is the oldest known wind instrument, dating back to the 9th Century B.C. Isn't that amazing? The modern flute that we see today was developed in the 1830's by Theobald Boehm.

Our next prize winner is Shaina, 8 years old, from Ontario, California. She wrote:

"Dear Joel, I would like to know how they make scooters." That is an awesome question Shaina. I would like to know as well. Did you know that the Razor Scooter was invented by Gino Tsai? He owned a large bicycle factory and claimed that his legs were too short to get around the factory efficiently. He, therefore, updated the old fashioned scooter into the Razor, that we all know and love today, so he could get around faster. Cool Huh?

Thank you and Congratulations to both of our winners. If you would like to have a chance to win a "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" prize package, go to our website at CuriosityQuest.org, click on the "Send Us On a Quest" link, and submit your letter.

We look forward to hearing from all of you.

Stay Curious

~Joel

Sources: http://inventors.about.com: www.flutehistory.com

Prize Winner

Congratulations to Kayla Morgart from Dixon, Missouri! She is our first winner of a "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" prize package. Kayla was automatically entered into our contest when she submitted her quest letter. Kayla wrote,

"Dear Joel, My birthstone is diamond. I would like to know everything about diamonds. Where do they come from, how much are they and where can I get them?

Sincerely, Kayla

P.S. Can you get me a diamond on your quest?"

Did I mention Kayla is only 9? A girl who knows what she wants :) I think this is an awesome idea. I am sure that my wife and daughter would agree as well.

Thank you Kayla and congratulations again.

If you would like to be entered to win a prize package, simply send us on a quest. Go to CuriosityQuest.org, click the "Send us on a quest" link, and submit your letter.

We look forward to hearing from you. Maybe it will be your letter that we choose next.

In the meantime, Stay Curious

~Joel

"Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs"

On Monday, my family, as well as the producer of the show, Melissa, were invited to attend the premiere of the new movie, "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs." We saw it in 3D Imax. My 6 year old daughter as well as her 9 year old cousin attended with us. Let me tell you my unprofessional opinion .......

It was Fabulous!!!

We loved it. It is one of the funniest, most family friendly movies that I have seen in a long time. I was laughing out loud through the majority of the movie. My daughter and I have been fans of the book for a long time, so it was really exciting to see it come to life with such extraordinary imagination. The story is well written and thought out. The humor is both adult and kid friendly. And the overall message of the movie is one of love, forgiveness and the power of believing in oneself. And above all else, who wouldn't want to imerse themselves in a world where it can snow ice cream..... even if just for a little while.

I hope that you will make a date with your kids and take them to see this wonderful film.

In the meantime, Stay Curious :)

~Joel

Enjoying the Summer!

Curiosity Quest has been on hiatus for most of the summer as we prepare for a new season.  During this break, we have enjoyed some quality family time.  We left the cameras behind and took the kids on a road trip that first led us to Mammoth Mountain. Mammoth is so beautiful.  We stayed very busy with day trips to Yosemite and Bodie State Park. I also rented an off road vehicle and climbed the very steep, but beautiful mountain.  We even entered a Ben and Jerry's ice cream eating contest :)  From there we headed to Lake Tahoe where we visited Virginia City and, best of all, floated down the Truckee River.  Our last stop brought us to Sequoia National Park to stand in awe of the majestic trees. We had an amazing time.

Work for Curiosity Quest never ends, though.  We are continuing to prepare for our upcoming season and are always looking for new ideas.  Don't stop sending your letters.  We look forward to hearing from you.

Hope you are enjoying your summer as well!  

Stay Curious

~Joel

Facebook and Twitter

Well, I am trying desperately to keep up with technology :)  It is not an easy task.  Thanks to my wonderful staff, I am now on Facebook and Twitter.  Check out recent photos and send me posts and receive notifications of what I am up to.  

I look forward to being able to hear from you.  Tell me what your curious about, what is your favorite quest, or what do you think of my latest haircut :)  

With all of these options (Facebook, Twitter, MySpace) there should be no reason that you can't have your voice heard.   In the meantime, Stay Curious.

~Joel

Winner of two 2009 Telly's

Curiosity Quest is proud to announce that we have just been honored with two 2009 Telly Awards!  We won for the Steinway and Sons Piano episode as well as for our Sanitary Landfill episode.  This makes a total of 9 Telly's for Curiosity Quest.  We are so excited.  You can check out excerpts of both of these episodes on YouTube.  Our link is:

http://www.youtube.com/user/curiosityquest

Thank you for your continued support. 

Stay Curious

~Joel

Gearing Up for Summer

Hello All,

Curiosity Quest is gearing up to begin shooting our new season this summer. We need your help. We are looking for creative, fun, exciting ideas for our new shows. Tell us what you are curious about. We cannot do it with out you, so get writing! Click on the link to "Send Us On A Quest," on our website. We look forward to hearing your ideas. In the meantime, Stay Curious.

~Joel

Joel Celebrates Earth Day!

Hello Loyal Curiosity Quest Fans :)  

Thank you for continuing to watch and support the show.  

This past weekend I had the honor of Emceeing the Earth Day Celebration at Dos Lagos in Corona, California. It was a great day that brought awareness to an important cause as well as showcased the talents of the local community.  I had a blast and felt very proud to be a part of it.  

Our new Curiosity Quest Goes Green shows are still going strong.  Look for our show this week highlighting one of the "greenest" companies in the USA, Patagonia.  Learn how they make eco-friendly clothing as well as how they "tread lightly on the environment".  We are very proud to highlight such a great company.

Today we want to say thanks to all of you who continue to write to us.  We read  and appreciate every letter that we receive.  We wanted to highlight one of our funniest letters of the week. It comes from Edward in Los Angeles, California.  He wrote, 

"Dear Joel,  Is there a real Godzilla?"    :)   Well Edward,  somehow I doubt that there is a real Godzilla, however I think it could be fun to find out how the story of Godzilla came to be.  

Could be an awesome adventure.  Thank you for your letter and sparking our curiosity ( as well as making us laugh ).  Keep the letters coming everyone!  We look forward to hearing from you. In the meantime, Stay Curious!

~Joel

Have You Gone Green?

Hello Curiosity Quest Fans!!

Happy Spring!

Our Curiosity Quest Goes Green series is in full swing.  These are fantastic shows and we couldn't be prouder.  I hope that you caught our episodes on the Eco Station and Food Rescue. These are some of my favorite shows yet.  Each one with a very different message, but each so important. Make sure that you don't miss any of the new episodes.  They air Monday nights at 7:30 p.m. and Friday nights at 6:30 p.m.  You have one more chance to catch the food rescue show this Friday.  It will touch your heart and remind you that there is always someone in need.  Maybe you could be the one to help.  

Thank you for your ongoing letters of Curiosity. You are the ones that continue to guide us on our adventures.  We couldn't do it without you.   We will soon be gearing up to begin pre-production for a new season of our regular Curiosity Quest shows.  Please continue to send us your ideas.  Be creative and think big.  In the meantime,  Stay Curious!

- Joel 

Ready for New Episodes of Curiosity Quest?

Your patience is about to pay off.  Our new season of Curiosity Quest Goes Green will be making it's season debut on Monday March 30th at 7:30p.m. Check out all of our new episodes Monday nights at 7:30p.m. and Saturday mornings at 7:30a.m.   

We are very proud of our upcoming season.  We can't wait to share these episodes with you. They are our best green shows yet.  Some of the exciting topics that we will be highlighting are: Patagonia clothing company, Storm Water, Planet Pals, Food Rescue, and many more.  I hope that you learn as much as I have about how to tread lightly on our planet and how to do our part to take care of it.  In filming these shows, I knew that we were doing something special.  

In the meantime, don't stop sending us your letters.  We could not continue to do what we do without your support and curiosity.   We look forward to hearing from you.

Stay Curious

~Joel

Almost done recording the new season of Curiosity Quest Goes Green

We have almost completed recording all of the episodes that will be included in the next season of Curiosity Quest Goes Green. We just got back from Georgia and Alabama where we learned how sport turf is made.

That was an awesome trip! Georgia is a very beautiful state but it was cold - like 32 degrees! We live in California and we aren't used to that kind of winter =)

This season is scheduled to begin airing the last week of March 2009. We will post the full airtime schedule as March gets closer.

We continue to receive great "quest" letter from our fans. Our favorite one that came in this week was from Madalynne in Averill Park, NY. Madalynne wrote, "I would like to know how they make the prescription for eyeglasses." What a creative question. I have always wondered that myself.

Don't stop sending your "quest" letters. We love hearing from you. And remember, stay Curious!

Joel Greene