I’m beginning to think about planning my trip to Austin for SxSW next spring. Brooke is thinking about coming with me, though she won’t be registering for the conference itself. Like last year, I’ll probably fly down a day early, and fly home the day after, which makes the dates March 7-13. Does anybody know yet where they’re staying? Last year, Davezilla was kind enough to let me crash his suite and Michael and Ari took up the slack for a few days, too. Before I go begging, I wondered if anyone else was interested in sharing accomodations this year?
Author: James McNally
Old Movies
The weekend was spent in front of the tube, watching old movies. This is probably a pre-emptive strike against the sort of frantic last-minute shopping I’ll have to do for the next couple of weekends. I’m also behind on several other projects, so my guilt has officially kicked in. Friday night we enjoyed The Lady Eve (1941), starring Barbara Stanwyck and Henry Fonda, directed and written by Preston Sturges. Saturday night was Charade (1963), starring Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant, and directed by Stanley Donen. I’ve been in an old movie mood lately, and just today picked up On the Waterfront (1954), which joins other recent vintage DVD purchases The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) and Casablanca (1942). A few months ago, I mentioned that out of the AFI Top 100 Films list, I’d seen 33, and Brooke 50. Now I’m wondering how many I’ve seen (OK, I checked: 40). Or how many of the Best Picture Oscar™ winners I’ve seen (OK, I checked: 26). How about you? Are you as film-obsessed as me?
Link and Think
Today is World Aids Day. Brooke and I interviewed Brooke’s friend Jim Billing, who is Volunteer Coordinator for the AIDS Committee of Toronto (ACT):
1. Can you give us a little history about the AIDS Committee of Toronto?
How long it has been going?
The AIDS Committee of Toronto was founded in 1983 by the gay community
who felt that government and the health care system were not doing
enough to help people with AIDS. ACT started out to be an advocacy
organization. Today it continues to be a community-based organization
committed to advocacy, education and support for people infected and
affected by HIV/AIDS.
2. What sort of things does the AIDS Committee of Toronto do?
We continue to be a voice for those affected by HIV/AIDS when it comes
to government policies and health care issues. Education has become a
major focus with special programmes targeted at women and youth. Our
most recent campaign though has targeted men having sex with men since
there has been an alarming increase in the infection rate in this group.
ACT has one of the most impressive resource libraries in North America.
We also have several support groups for those who have been newly
diagnosed, men who are HIV+ and over 40, men who are HIV-, and those
that are positive but have partners that are negative.
One of our newest programs is Employment Action. This program assists
individuals who are HIV+, have been on disability and are now
considering re-entering the work force. With the new medications and
“cocktails,” those infected with HIV are now managing their health better
and are able to return to work. Employment Action assists with resumes,
interviewing skills, upgrading computer skills and arranging interviews.
For the rest of the interview, including Jim’s personal story, continue reading at Blog Widow.