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The As It Happens Podcast

Me first!

Afghanistan's electoral commission won't release the preliminary results of yesterday's presidential election until Tuesday. And already both Hamid Karzai and Dr. Abdullah Abdullah are claiming the lead.

But as the two front-runners clamour for legitimacy, other contenders are waiting for more information. Ramazan Bashardost was running fourth in the presidential race - that's if you believe the pre-election polls. He was the Planning Minister in the Karzai government before stepping down to become an anti-corruption crusader and member of parliament. He's also the only one of the four major candidates who doesn't appear to have significant western backing.

We reached Dr. Bashardost outside the Kabul tent that he's using as his campaign headquarters.

Dr. Ramazan Bashardost is a candidate to be President of Afghanistan. He was in Kabul.

Kabul's also home to hundreds of international election observers tonight. To get one of their stories, we've reached Nipa Banerjee. She's a professor at the University of Ottawa who spent more than three decades doing international development work for the Canadian government. From 2003 until 2006 she represented the Canadian International Development Agency in Afghanistan.

We reached Professor Banerjee in Kabul.

Ernie "Punch" McLean has lived to tell another tale. The legendary junior hockey coach, known for his colourful and physical style, survived five days in the bush in northern BC. "Punch" is a hobbyist gold prospector who was working on a claim when he went missing. The soon-to-be seventy-eight-year-old was found by his friend and helicopter pilot Jim Reed.

This morning, after a good breakfast, Mr. McLean shared his story of survival with Rick Cluff, host of CBC Vancouver's The Early Edition. Here is part of that interview, for the record.

Three months after his wedding, Aleki Taumopeau watched as his wedding ring fell into Wellington Harbour. But while a lesser man might have focused his energies on coming up with a good excuse, the 42-year-old kiwi hatched a plan. And now, sixteen months later, it's finally paid off.

We reached Mr. Taumopeau in Hamilton, New Zealand.

And so in tribute, here's The National with, "Lucky You."

That's the voice of Enrique "The Volcano" Oliu, the Official Spanish Language Announcer for the Tampa Bay Rays in Florida. And like any successful commentator, The Volcano has built a reputation for calling 'em like he sees 'em. Sort of. You see, Enrique has been blind since birth, and has never actually "seen" a baseball game in his life.

We reached Enrique Oliu in Tampa, Florida.

"Mr. Sandman -- bring me your genes..." If you're one of those people who can get by on very little of sleep, don't give all the credit to coffee. Turns out it may be genetic.

While doing DNA screenings of people who had taken part in sleep studies, scientists at the University of California, San Francisco came across a rare genetic variant in a mother and daughter who need a lot less shut-eye than the rest of us. It's the first time scientists have found a genetic mutation that directly relates to the amount of sleep we need. And that might help uncover a new understanding of human sleep patterns.

Dr. Ying-Hui Fu is in San Francisco.

Sometimes we all need a little pick-me-up, no matter how strong we are. Even Popeye relied on a little green -- the leafy kind -- to get the wind back in his sails. As he put it, "I'm strong to the finich, 'cus I eats me spinach." But, according to a team of American researchers, there's plenty of energy to be found in another sort of green. A new study suggests that just counting money can make you feel like a million bucks.

Kathleen Vohs is an Associate Professor of Marketing, at the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management. We reached her in Santa Barbara, California.

So here's your chance to fess up and face the music, if you get high on the power of money. Remember, admitting you have a problem is the first step.

From their 2005 album Sounding a Mosiac, here's Bedouin Soundclash with "Money Worries."

ELINE: CANADIAN BLOGGERS

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AUG 21/09

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Dateline: Across Canada.

Perhaps you think that you, or someone you know -- me, for instance -- has the best job in the world. But, at least officially, that post is held by an Englishman, hired in May by Tourism Queensland. Ben Southall is required to live and travel in the Australian state. He swims, he snorkels. He oysters. On Tuesday, they're letting him fly a helicopter. For his troubles, he gets one-hundred-and-fifty Australian dollars. Of course, it's not all sand and beach. There is some paperwork. He must submit daily blogs that describe, for instance, how bonzer surfing is, and post accompanying videos demonstrating what an all around ripper time he's having.

It may seem like Tourism Queensland got the short end of the stick, but they knew what they were doing. That's because two-thirds of the way through his six-month contract, Southall has already generated about a hundred million dollars in advertising and holiday bookings.

So it seems reasonable that the Canadian Tourism Commission would expect the same success with a similar travel blog. And so two Canadians, Victoria Rey and Carolyne Weldon, were awarded a contract to create one called "Canada is a Big Place". They traveled around Canada for six weeks, all expenses paid, and blogged twice a day about their adventures.

And like Mr Southall in Queensland, the Canadian pair also tried their hand at oystering, in the Maritimes. They celebrated Canada day in Ottawa.They ate fat-boy burgers in Winnipeg, walked the Tundra near Iqualuit, and rodeo-ed in Alberta.

Unfortunately for the Canadian Tourism Commission, the blog never went viral. Most of the videos only got a few dozen hits.

No word yet on how much money the tourism board earned in publicity. But it likely wasn't the equivalent of one hundred-million Aussie dollars.

Things of course could still heat up. There's still a window of opportunity for the blog to take off. Hopefully, that window is lined with cold-weather insulation plastic. Because Canada's Tourism Commission has charged the intrepid duo with a second mission: this winter, they'll venture to some of Canada's chillier regions -- communities like Churchill, Manitoba. No oystering there. And definitely no snorkeling.

On the bright side, they'll likely never come across vegemite on the menu.