Celebrating Earth Day Pt2: Going Extreme Nature (Via YouTube)

You can celebrate Earth Day many different ways. How far do you want to go on a spectrum from safe to crazy? Facebook pages are filled with photos from people who've chosen to live cautiously--walking, swimming, hiking or even camping. But a small group of athletes live way out on the edge, pursuing extreme sports that require a subtle balance been lightening reflexes, courage and an ability to savor heightened nuances of terror. Any one with a death wish and a bucket list should try wingsuit flying, extreme mountain biking, or high-speed hill climbs. If you still have adolescent immortality jags, try jumping bikes into a late-afternoon pond. Or just watch YouTube, where you can tag along and experience: adrenalin-rushing, heart pumping moments when your mouth dries and eyes water, time slows, senses and nature mesh, becoming one screaming neural node of pleasure. Jokke Sommer has been Wingsuit flying since 2007. He commented recently: In the last year there have been quite a few fatalities...that could easily been avoided by just following some simple rules... ...A good tip is to spend a few hours on Google Earth the night before you go to a new cliff. Measure heights, distances and create a line you want to fly, suitable for your experience level. It also gives you a better feeling on the exit (jump), in case you wonder if you can make it to the landing area.

Rhy's Millen tells his Red Bull sponsors and fans: "My schedule is filled with some 200-plus days per year behind the wheel either racing or stunt driving for TV commercials and feature films." He says the nonstop driving helps keep him "sharp, focused and inch-perfect." When he's not out on the racetrack, he's stunt-driving for the camera. His list of films includes The Dukes of Hazzard, Fast & Furious 3 and 4, and Tokyo Drift.

Slovakia's Filip Polc took top honours in the Red Bull Desafio no Morro, an amazing downhill mountain bike competition inside a favela (shanty town) of Rio de Janeiro. Polc's best time of 1:39.91 down 760 meters of favela alleys and staircases was enough to edge Brazilian Markolf Berchtold by 1.5s

Within a week and a half of being posted on YouTube, Devin Graham told his campus newspaper, "Huge Bike Jump into a Pond 35 feet in the air" had garnered half a million views. One month later, the short clip filmed in Alpine, Utah, has 740,000 hits and counting. The video, directed and edited by Oregon native Devin Graham, is only one of his numerous creative projects. A Brigham Young University Media Art Studies Film student, Devin is currently living in Hauula working on a documentary about the late water photographer Jon Mozo.

Volcanologist (yes, they exist) Geoff Mackley was interviewed by Matt Lauer about this latest jaunt into a volcano. Mackley, a regular dare devil, descended into the volcano on the Vanuatan island of Ambrym, which he claims has some of the worst weather on the planet. Mackley told Lauer, "The volcano pumps out so much green house gas, it creates its own weather." While he recognizes that "a lot of people might think I'm crazy," Mackley is thinking about making his volcano rappelling adventures into an extreme tourist trip.

Bringing the Earth Day celebration back home, we have the dairy farm. This cheeky music video originally aired on the British music television show The X Factor as a commerical for Yeo Valley Organic Yogurt, a real farm in the British Somerset countryside (click to see the making of video). The video became so popular that it was finally uploaded to YouTube and iTunes in 2010, and it now has had about 1,000,000 views. Here are the lyrics: Intro The sun is up, the milk is chilled, it's gonna be a good one, yo yo Farmer 1 Yo I'm rolling in my Massey on a summer's day Chugging cold milk while I'm baling hay Yeo Valley's approach is common sense Harmony in nature takes precedence My ride's my pride That's why you'll never see it dirty And I love it here man That's why I'm never leaving early I'm so gurt In my cap and my shirt I'm representing for West So hard that it hurts Farmer 2 We make this look easy Cause we're proper modern with this farming believe me Wind turbines they're shining baby And solar farming no buts no maybe's Ye, when we're down with the Soil Association And we do lots of what, conservation Sustain, maintain it ain't no thing We set the bar Real leaders by far Chorus Yeo Valley Yeo Valley We changed the game, it will never be the same Yeo Valley Yeo Valley Big up your chest and represent the West Farmer 3 This isn't fictional farming It's realer than real You won't find milk maidens That's no longer the deal In my wax coat and boots I'm proper farmer Giles Now look You urban folk done stole our styles I'm not a city dweller, Me I like to keep it country The air is clean and All those cars will make me jumpy It's different strokes For different folk, my man Just enjoy the results Of what we do on the land Farmer 4 Check out Daisy she's a proper cow A pedigree Friesian with know how Her and her girls they have their own name We treat them good They give us the cream Chorus Yeo Valley Yeo Valley We changed the game, it will never be the same Yeo Valley Yeo Valley Big up your chest and represent the West Big up your chest...Represent the West...

Where's the best place to celebrate Earth Day?

Photo: Bike and rider mid-air: YouTube still- devinsupertramp