Starting November 26th, Metroblogging sites around the globe began unveiling seven gifts their cities can share with the world – one gift a day for seven days. While most finished the task by December 2nd, some cities showed late to the party (traffic), others got a little tipsy or lost track of time while making out with the catering staff in the pantry.
Here’s the rundown that will continue to be updated over the next few days…
Day 8 and beyond: December 3rd to ???
Hawaii goes all out as Macpro doesn’t even wrap its next four gifts: TV & movie productions featuring Hawaii Five-O and Lost… golf hottie Michelle Wie… Scientific Research to Advance our Understanding of Earth & the Stars… and arguably the best gift of all, surfing! Just curious, Hawaii – would Eddie blog?
Tom Bridge in Washington DC gives the empirical Smithsonian Institution as its greatest and final gift.
Peter points out that due to Manila‘s gift of street food, they may be poor but never go hungry.
Migs Bassig takes pride in giving us Manila‘s voices from the call centers that have been outsourced there…
Day 7: Saturday, December 2nd
For Vienna‘s seventh and last gift to the world, Johannes Grenzfurthner brings us The Vienna Virus – while not the first computer virus, he says it is the one that first garnished worldwide media attention.
Nina in Manila gives us “the concept of tingi”, as in sample sizes for everything from shampoo to ketchup… and Nina is also giving away a “P100.00 Go Nuts GC” to a random commenter on their site.
MB finishes Karachi‘s gift giving with Abdul Sattar Edhi. “Edhi is for Karachi what Mother Teresa is to Calcutta. But more than that Edhi is an angel on earth not only for Karachi & Pakistan but to the whole world.”
Hasan Mubarak in Lahore brings a gift basket of four Nobel laureates: Rudyard “The Jungle Book” Kipling; Har Gobind Khorana; and physicist Dr. Abdus Salam and Subramanyan Chandrasekhar.
Montreal closes out its gift giving with a twoparter, as Tornwordo gives his city’s tolerance, and Vila H. gives booze.
Yummy! From Graz, Johannes brings us blob, porn, and oil. I’d explain, but thats what the hyperlink is for.
Vatsan in Chennai is giving us their beaches to play cricket on, sunbathe, and woo potential mates.
Austin gifts us with that cyclist bastard responsible for the yellow bracelet even I’m wearing – Lance Armstrong. He turned his successful battle against cancer into a foundation that provides countless other with hope, and while he’s had his share of controversy, as Wae points out, it’s “filler to make the biopic more interesting.”
Also from Austin, Heath Allyn gifts us with Dallas born Stevie Ray Vaughan, who moved to Austin pursue music.
Girl.In.the.D brings what we all really wanted from Detroit: the Automobile. As Girl points out, Motown didn’t invent the car, but they did perfect mass production. So, yes, we could also say Detroit unwittingly gifted us with traffic.
Russ concludes Portland‘s gift giving with Powell’s Books, the largest independent online bookseller, not to mention having a real world bookstore that Russ calls a cathedral.
Kneel to Zod! Talk Talk Talk pulls a few capes and spits into the wind as she says her Canadian city has given the world Superman, as created by Toronto born Joe Shuster.
Feeling weezy? Candian Arvin’s gift to the world is insulin that has saved the lives of countless diabetics since 1922, when Toronto teenager received the first shot.
Hawaii has come to the gift giving party a little late, and begins with steel guitar, followed by possibly our next President, Barack Obama. Next up is the Hula!
They should be glad this is their last gift, as Philadelphia gives us A-T-T-I-T-U-D-E for their final gift… and Sherri W. boasts about her city booing Santa Claus as evidence.
I’m lovin’ it! Dave! give’s Mayor McCheese, the Hamburglar, the Fry Guys, Grimace, and one creepy clown as Chicago‘s next gift of McDonalds.
Josh summarizes the musical contributions of the Metroblogging 7 Gifts series as a lead in to Seattle‘s gift of “a mixtape of sorts” – or more accurately, liner notes for a future mixtape that could be made about the illustrious Seattle music scene.
Vancouver already gave seven gifts, but wanted to let us know what they didn’t quite give us… starting with hockey player Joe Sakic.
Day 6: Friday, December 1st
The Blogger Currently Known As Erica M’s next gift from the Twin Cities is the Minneapolis Sound, which she writes is “that hybrid mixture of funk, rock, pop, R&B and new wave”, popularized (and arguably invented by) the Mozart of our generation, Prince.
Umar continues with Pakistan’s pride of their architecture as he gives us Karachi‘s Habib Bank Plaza. At 95 meters tall, it’s one of the city’s tallest buildings, it resembles “a stack of coins” and “truly symbolizes the economic strength of Karachi”.
Aaron O. puts Seattle‘s name as sender of the gift of The Great Outdoors… and by this, he means that their location, “makes it an ideal haven for outdoor enthusiasts of all stripes… all within the city limits.”
New York‘s next gift is one that everyone admires, and hopes to use: Courage. “Not everybody appreciates this,” Lisa Hunter writes. “Red Staters call us unpatriotic for being liberal. But our courage and our defiance in the face of danger are a true contribution to America and the world.”
Coffeehouses with bad service where “alternative/creative industry/artsy fartsy people hang out”? That’s Vienna‘s gift, says Michael Zeltner.
Manila begins their giftgiving with a fancy logo for their series – inside Peter’s first is their national hero, Jose Rizal, who inspired the country to revolt against the Spanish.
In addition to its chains of coffee houses, Portland also gives us the Microbrew. Divebarwife tells us the gift includes their varied brewpubs to the hobby of homebrewing, popular among Portland’s residents.
Heathervescent gives us Los Angeles‘ sixth gift, the Pasadena Freeway and provides video to help the rest of the world enjoy what many of Californian’s experience every day.
Bottoms up! Roland Gratzer whips up Graz‘s next gift of masochism, as named after local Leopold von Sacher-Masoch who authored Venus In Furs.
Batter up! Philadelphia‘s Chris Scott gives us the Phillies, 76ers, Flyers, Eagles, and even more college programs as part of Philly’s Sports.
The UN labeled Toronto “the most multicultural city in the world”, and with this Talk Talk Talk makes multiculturism and diversity this city’s next gift.
Don Whiteside chose former Mayor Marion Barry as Washington DC‘s next gift not just because the elected official liked to smoke crack with hookers, but because he was fun.
Baliad gives of Detroit being an incubator for almost every kind of music, from Motown (of course) to techno and rap.
Chennai, India gives their hometown boy who they call “The Boss.” Nope, not Bruce Springsteen. Prabhu writes instead of A.R.Rahman… also from Chennai today is Mulligatawny Soup as Pavithra Srinivasan describes in detail… Nancy Gandhi also gives us their Indo-Saracenic Architecture left over from when British architects combined “traditional Hindu and Islamic architecture, and combined it with the Gothic revival style favored in Victorian England.”
Maigh in Atlanta also gives their native son, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter. No mention of his brother’s Billy Beer in the post. What gives?
Hasan in Lahore gives us one of the world’s longest running markets, the Anarkali Bazaar.
Jay gives “the largest underground series of tunnels in the world” on behalf of Montreal and it’s “R√âSO” subway system.
Game show host Hans Rosenthal is Berlin‘s next gift as eulogized by Alexander.
Day Five: Thursday, November 30th
Electronic Music is Berlin‘s fifth gift, as Till gives us a mini-history and a video clip demonstrating the style.
I hope Vienna saved the receipt, as they present New Electronic Music. Georg Crackd explains what made this fresh was the introduction of loops into live sets made available by laptops, allowing for “electroacustic improvisation.”
Dylan W. needs more wrapping paper for for Seattle‘s gift of the Boeing 7X7 line of passenger jets which played no small part in making commercial air travel available to the masses.
Islamabad‘s Backpacker gives Taxila, the still accessible remnants of one of humanities oldest civilizations.
Montreal steps in as Laiya brings us a giant serving of their famous Bagels, Poutine, and everything in between., and Tanya seconds that with Montreal’s Restaurants and Foodie Culture that encompass tastes from all over the world.
In Atlanta, Annie is gives the world CNN, the first all news network, that also made Darth Vader’s voice famous.
One day after Los Angeles gifted the world with movies, Vancouver‘s Matt gives his city’s position as Hollywood North with a list of productions the world has enjoyed as a result.
Steven in Chicago brings local sports legends as his city’s gifts to the world, including Michael Jordan, Mike Ditka, Harry Caray, and the cast of the Superbowl Shuffle.
Aaron in Portland gives the world their cuddly, creepy Uncle Packwood, a US senator who “was a trend setter for sexually questionable legislators everywhere”.
If the stress of the holiday season has you looking for a tall building to – um – get a nice view from, you’re in luck as Toronto is giving the world the CN Tower, which blogger talk talk talk says is the world’s tallest.
Seattle had to make a couple trips to the car today they had so many gifts, which now include their Five Gold Rings which include philanthropists/supergeeks Bill Gates and Paul Allen and cancer researcher Dr. William Hutchinson.
Lucinda Michelle gives Los Angeles‘ next gift – The End of the Road, both literally (the west end of Route 66) and figuratively (where people come to achieve their dreams).
Saira in Toronto says Honest Ed’s is a gift anyone visiting must see because it “serves as proof that there are still local buisnesses doing exceedingly well and contributing to the local community despite multi-national corporate giants such as Wal-Mart.”
Austin gives us three gifts today: msw presents the Alamo Drafthouse, proclaimed to be the greatest movie theatre in the US (you can drink beer while watching a movie); Lauren brings us SXSW, the annual week long music fest/interactive conference/cool people get together; and Tim Trentham rolls a die 20 and gifts us with gaming, as Austin was home to Steve Jackson Games, where Ultima was developed, and where Dell makes the microprocessors that let World of Warcraft wizards and warriors co-exist.
If you hate the fact that you’re reading this on a computer, Mark Searcy will take some of the blame as Dallas gives the world the microchip.
Karachi‘s Mansoor gives the gift of YUMM! in the form of regional dish nihari, a stew of curry and lamb or beef that was once exclusively for upper class Muslims.
From the schizophrenic Twin Cities, St. Paul’s Erica M brings us The Great Gatsby, as written by native F. Scott Fitzgerald.
New York City gives the gift of BIG. Yes, its the name of the Sex & the City heartthrob, and the name of the Tom Hanks film that takes place there. But what Noah means is his city’s scale, and their ability to make massive architecture and infrastructure work.
Sherri W. rounds up Philadelphia‘s cultural institutions and city traditions as their next gift, from the nations oldest Turkey day parade, the Brandywine River Museum, to much more.
Julian Ausserhofer gives two of Graz‘s hometown boys to the world: Governator Arnold Schwarzenegger and Ernest Kaltenegger, a local Communist politico.
Washington, DC’s WFY gives the strategically placed Capital Beltway as out nation’s capitol’s next gift, if only to give the rest of the world a bit of slang to refer to the neighborhood.
GaZ of Birmingham in Middle Earth the United Kingdom gives us the literary genius of noneother than J.R.R. Tolkien.
Also today…Mansoor in Karachi gives a mid-gift giving recap… and the hair sensitive readers of Metroblogging Chicago are having an uprising over Wednesday’s gift…
Day Four: Wednesday, November 29th

London‘s third gift is DesiGirl’s personal oasis from the “chaos and madness” – Hyde Park.
Roland Gratzer regrets to inform us that Graz‘s next gift, Rocket Mail, was recalled for fear the technology would fall into the hands of Hitler’s SS.
Barry in Montreal makes up for his city giving us Celine Dion a second time by bringing us a gift basket of Famous Montrealers also including William Shatner, Leonard Cohen, and more.
Erinoia has Chicago give the gift that keeps giving, a terrible hairdo year-round – “wind-blown, frizzy, flat, or fried,” take your pick!
In December ’06 Melbourne filmmakers released the longest film ever made… this was 1906, and the film was little more than an hour long – the advent of The Feature Length Film, gifted to us by Melbourne’s Zara.
Some gifts are for the people, not the governments, as Max Mey shows as Berlin gives the world Peaceful Demonstrations (which can always be exchanged for anti-demonstrations).
Super-villains all over the world rue the day Atlanta gifted the world with the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). As Sabrina points out, the CDC began by attacking malaria carrying mosquitos, and now keeps an eye on international outbreaks of diseases – natural or manmade.
Rebecca Bollwitt in Vancouver gives the world David Suzuki, science broadcaster/environmentalist/all-around-bad-ass.
Austin‘s first gift (other cities are on their fourth) is Slacker. Yeah. Exactly. Wae gives this groundbreaking film by Richard Linklater.
Toronto’s Stephen Jacobs also arrives late with the gifts (maybe there was traffic?), and starts with their deep lake water cooling systems… hey! Wake up! This technology is exciting stuff, utilizing naturally cold water as airconditioning, it saves electricity and reduces emissions.
Rickus Rackus is proud to give Detroit‘s Riverfront, the cultural hub of Motor City.
Apparently, Austin had the munchies, as Tim Trentham presents Whole Foods Market as their second gift of the day.
Jonashpdx gets into the holiday spirit with Portland‘s next gift… unfortunately, he’s a month late for the Halloween holiday, but the world will still humbly accept Death with Dignity.
Philipp Droessier serves us Fusion Cuisine on behalf of Vienna, which he explains is how they define dishes they’ve stolen borrowed from other cities and countries and perfected.
Los Angeles couldn’t be forgiven if it didn’t mention its gift of Motion Pictures, an entry that comes with an original pic by Dave “eecue” Bullock.
Chennai, India joins in on the gift giving madness as ChandraChoodan Gopalakrishnan gives us Madras Cotton, “what the Hathway man wears.”
Schwing! Halai in Toronto finds his mojo and gifts the world with hometown cheeky-monkey Mike Myers. That’ll do, donkey, that’ll do.
From the original stage of American Bandstand, Sherri W. extends Philadelphia‘s “unique legacy of music and musical events”, not to mention being mentioned in such classic songs as “Philadelphia Freedom”.
Talha Masood gives the Faisal Mosque as Islamabad‘s fourth gift to the world. This architectural beauty is not only a place of worship but also includes a cafe, a book shop, and the Dawah academy which promotes the peaceful teaching of Islam.
Mansoor in Karachi, also in Pakistan, gives their architectural gem, the Mohatta Palace, a museum that houses ceramic arts and memorabalia of the city’s history dating back hundreds of years.
Benkay gives of New York‘s diversity… albeit with some deliberation.
Day Three: Tuesday, November 28th
On Berlin‘s behalf, Metecem gives the world their Nutrition… in the form of D√∂ner.
Pakistani pop stars Vital Signs are A for Apple’s next gift from Islamabad.
James in Atlanta‘s gift is Martin Luther King, Jr.
Umar went shopping and came back with the gift of shopping. More specifically, Shopping in Saddar, “the heart of Karachi.”
Tom is giving away the NFL team, the Detroit Lions… as in giving them… away. Detroit doesn’t want them anymore.
Nuts! Sacramento‘s next gift are its Blue Diamond Almonds, says Ursula Stuter.
Ryan Cousineau has Freeriding as Vancouver‘s third gift. You’ll have to bring your own helmet, and prepare to get muddy.
Washington, DC couldn’t decide which of their musicians to choose, to they’re giving the world a four-pack: parade extraordinaire John Philip Sousa, swingin’ Duke Ellington, hardcore band Bad Brains, and “godfather of go-go” Chuck Brown.
Banana Lee Fishbones proudly, and without excuses, offers us LiveJournal as Portland‘s third gift to the world.
Lisa Hunter in New York shares with us their Music and Theatre which is responsible for them having the world’s greatest audiences.
Marisa proudly gifts us with Philadelphia‘s Film Office as it has helped deliver us such films as the Rocky series as well as supported the career of M. Night Shyamalan.
From Los Angeles, Joz Joz Joz gives gives gives the world our Food, Glorious, Food – something for every taste from every part of the world can be found here, allowing visitors and migrants to feel at home, and the residents to feel like world travelers.
London sees L.A.’s food and raises to Internationalism, as Daneeta Loretta Saft refers to her metro as “a microcosm of the world.”
Their futuristic skyline is Dallas‘ next gift, even if, as Brian Gibb opines, its only “futuristic in a Tron sort of way.”
Johannes Grenzfurthner phones in with Graz‘s third gift, The Sound of Aether, also known as the world’s first wireless transmission.
Sherry gives Montreal‘s varied entertainment festivals, from their International Jazz Fest, Les Francofolies for French music, the Just for Laughs fest for stand up comics (no kidding), their own Fringe Fest, geek-a-thon Fantasia, the Divers/Cite gay pride celebrations, and more.
Seattle didn’t invent coffee, or the coffeehouse, but Zee Grega still makes java their gift to the world for some very good reasons – to begin with, Starbucks!
Vienna‘s Melancolia gives the world The Waltz, also known to old skool folks as dirty dancing.
Day two: Monday, November 27th

Islamabad‘s Backpacker gives their Keys to Paradise, as in the basecamp to K2, among other of the “world’s biggest kept tourist secrets”.
Jamash in Karachi offers what should be the envy of public transportation the world over, their W-11 bus (a must read to understand!).
For the second gift of the second day Berlin gives us another legendary entertainer, as William Thirteen presents silver screen icon Marlene Dietrich.
Jeffrey Simpson gives of Vancouver what some corporations and governments would probably prefer to return, regift, or never open: Greenpeace International, founded in his British Columbian city in 1971.
The roomy, gorgeous Black Cab is London‘s next gift, and Flora Graham gives six reasons why.
PAgent in Portland gives the world the body mod babes of The Suicide Girls (mostly for what they were, not for what they’ve become since moving ops to L.A.)
Atlanta comes late to the party bearing two gifts (one for yesterday, one of today) as Seth presents us with a healthy double dose of Coca-Cola and Chik-fil-A (reminding this writer to go on a diet when the holidays are over).
Here in Los Angeles, Tammara extends our metropolis’ constantly relaxing marijuana laws that allow police to focus on more important issues, like tasering college students (kidding, kidding!)
On behalf of New York City, Doris Knight gives the world Attitude (aka “Chutzpah, balls, cojones, moxie.”) and includes some swipes at Boston, Tokyo, and – hey! Los Angeles. Watch it! We’re blogging here!
Vienna‘s Johannes Grenzfurthner offers everyone a space in The Zentralfriedhof, the city’s largest cemetery. Airfare not included.
Pretty soon Johannes will gift us the secret of teleportation, as he’s double dutying gifting duties for Graz, Austria, who give us The Sacred Mystery of the Cosmos, as discovered by resident Johannes Kepler.
Montreal‘s Christelle gives us an audio montage of musicians from their local scene, including The Arcade Fire and…ahem… Celine Dion. Our hearts, and this list, will go on…
Dallas begings its giftgiving with, of course, Dallas, the TV series about that loveable Ewing family. Mark Searcy has details.
Christiana Dominquez presents Sacramento native Molly Ringwald, who “paved the way for good girls everywhere to go after the bad boys, the rich boys, and the richer boys,” and gave a generation of us geeks someone to, um, think longingly about.
Artemis in Chicago boasts their Rockin’ Grid System as their gift to the world that makes them a city “anyone can navigate, making citizens and tourists feel at home.”
Detroit‘s Mollika proudly displays their own Underground Railroad as a gift that continues to be “a reminder in the continuing battle for racial equality worldwide.”
Tiny Tot jumps the gun with a second gift from Sacramento today, Supreme Court Justice Kennedy, a pro-choice, pro-gay rights, pro-due process, Reagan appointee.
Dallas also brings two gifts today – Mark Stearcy’s second are its bountiful shopping malls. To their dismay, these Texans may not have the largest mall, but they have “more shopping centers per capita than any United States city and metro.”
Wayan in Washington, DC gives their landmark Ben’s Chili Bowl.
Philadelphia‘s Matt W doesn’t stop with their infamous cheesecakes, but adds in their soft pretzels and home baked Tastycakes as well. Now, can some city gift us some Pepto?
Samantha Mastridge blames alcohol on Seattle choosing it’s “forgiving and inclusive” Art Scene as its second gift to the world.
Day One: Sunday, November 26th

For Los Angeles‘ first entry, I presented the world with the L.A. Sunset… a cocktail.
Tom in Berlin shares with us “the German Frank Sinatra”, entertainer Harald Juhnkie.
Karachi, Pakistan’s Umar teases us with Pakola, a local canned beverage that she says is spreading all over the world.
Jeffrey Simpson is proud to gift the world popular photo sharing site Flickr on behalf of Vancouver, where it was developed.
Jaded in Islamabad, Pakistan, gives us a tour of his country’s Parliament, and extends to us its “generosity of spirit”.
Ruby T shares with us London‘s architecture; dynamic, historical, and having withstood “the second world war, IRA and more recent bombings”, functional.
Noah and Dana give the world New York City‘s prime locations for film and television shoots.
In Detroit is the Eastern Market that Girl.in.the.D offers everyone around the globe to visit because “it’s an experience like no other.”
Andre offers up The Montreal Protocol, named after his Canadian city, a international treaty that was enacted in 1989 in order to protect the ozone layer.
Chicago gifts the world with Improv, which Fuzzy Gerdes credits the Windy City as the birthplace.
Betsy presents Portland, Oregon’s first gift of The Simpsons, as many of Springfield’s residents were named after Portland’s streets (“embodied in characters like Sideshow Bob Terwilliger, Mayor Quimby, the Lovejoy family…and Ned Flanders”)
Philadelphia holds off on the cheese steak for a moment as Betsy first serves up The U.S. Constitution and The Liberty Bell, both symbols of democracy, as its gifts to the world.
Dylan W. brings the sweet somethings from Cupcakes Royale as the first of Seattle‘s seven gifts to the world.
Sacramento offers reknowned chef Biba Caggiano, who Erik Johnson says now has a cookbook so the whole world can indulge in her delights.
Vienna, Austria oh so subtley gives the world subconciousness… for some reason the name Johannes Grenzfurthner comes to mind.
Down the block in Graz, Daniel Fabry acts as ambassador and endows us with Slow Motion, as in the motion picture technique in vented by Austrian August Musger that makes crash test dummy films so amusing.
Washington, DC‘s Douglas Clifton gifts us with their Metro system which allows world travelers to enjoy the U.S. capitol without a car.
7 Gifts concept by Mark Searcy of Metroblogging Dallas.
Tags: Metblogs7Gifts 7Gifts Metroblogging7Gifts 7 gifts to the world