December 1st is WORLD AIDS DAY and every year I try to post something to get you all thinking and active. I’ve urged you to watch TV specials which I’ll do again this year as this is a TV Blog after all, but this year I also have a special request for all of you on my behalf.
Since 2002 I’ve participated in various AIDS Rides and have raised over $14,000 for various HIV/AIDS related organizations. In 2008 I will once again hit the roads as part of BRAKING THE CYCLE (my 3rd year) but I’m not asking you for money yet… I’ll wait until we’re actually in 2008 for that!
Here’s how you can help. A few minutes of your time could help Braking The Cycle and their beneficiary The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Center (NYC) raise $5,000 toward our upcoming ride.
$5,000 for Braking the Cycle: Nance, a fellow rider ran into a colleague of hers from the University of Victoria that needs 1,000 subjects for an online experiment. The study is about “the impressions people form and retain when they watch videotaped depictions of complex human behaviours and interactions”. The research is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and has a nice budget for participants. He has offered to donate $5 per participant to Braking The Cycle. In addition to the $5 donation to our cause, participants are entered into a lottery, with approximately 1/100 chance of winning $100.
Completing the study takes about 20 minutes, and involves watching a short video, performing some word-puzzle tasks, and answering questions about the video. It¹s fun! The study has been approved by University of Victoria’s Human Research Ethics Board.
Click here to participate and help Braking The Cycle. *One thing to know is that as you are downloading a video (which took about 3 minutes on my computer) there is no sign that anything is happening so just hang tight and it will start up. (Thanks to Blake for the tip)
Educate and Activate The Brain Through TV! Here are a number of television events in honor of World AIDS Day.
Friday, November 30
Positive Voices: Women and HIV, 9 p.m. - Showtime
India’s Hidden Plague (With YouthAIDS Ambassador Ashley Judd), 10 p.m. - National Geographic
Saturday, December 1 (World AIDS Day)
The Ride: Seven Days to End AIDS (Marathon), Starting 7:30 a.m. - Logo
MTV’s World AIDS Day Special, 10 a.m. - MTV
Longtime Companion, 10:20 a.m. - Logo
Stephen Fry: HIV & Me, 2 p.m. - Sundance Channel
Beat The Drum, 3 p.m. - Showtime
Behind The Red Door, 3:30 p.m. - Showtime
The Origins of AIDS, 4 p.m. - Sundance Channel
Dear Francis, 5 p.m. - Showtime
I Want to be a Pilot/Positive Voices: Matthew Cusick, 5:30 p.m. - Sundance Channel
In The Gloaming, 5:30 p.m. - Logo
It’s so sad to me that MTV/VH1 aren’t representing more. They used to be huge on World AIDS Day, airing many specials and documentaries and this year basically nothing. I guess they pushed it all on LOGO which is not on basic cable, isn’t targeted toward teens, and sadly gives the impression that AIDS is more of a gay disease than a human pandemic. That’s really frustrating.
The tear jerkers are the movies, Longtime Companion and In The Gloaming. They’re my faves. Documentary wise they all look great; Ashley Judd has worked her ass off over the last few years to educate on AIDS and her films are always incredible. I’m really intersted in the “I Want to be a Pilot” one because it’s interviews with 50 orphaned African kids due to AIDS, you know that’s going to be moving. I liked “The Ride” mostly because it speaks to the rides I’ve done over the past 6 years but 7:30 a.m. is early.
Hope you spend some time this weekend thinking about HIV/AIDS Prevention, Education, and the fight for a cure. Enjoy the weekend gang.












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