Chicago AIDS Walk 2008 - A Video Blog (NOW WITH UPDATED VIDEO CODING!)
NOTE: I've corrected the coding on the videos, which I've now uploaded to YouTube. Everyone should be able to access them now...thanks!
On Saturday, I joined the Season of Concern team, headed by the lovely Stephen, for the 2008 Chicago AIDS Walk and Run. It was a great event, a great time and we raised a shitload of money, thanks contributions from the "Wicked" and "Jersey Boy" casts--over $17,000! I brought along my trusty and compact Flip video camera to document the occasion. The following wobbly video chronicles our adventure:
Here, we're gathered in front of the Merle Reskin Theatre at DePaul University's downtown campus, waiting for Michael, the SOC board member who had our team T-shirts. (I keep calling the venue the Merle NORMAN theatre, which of course is incorrect.) A nice view of the outside of the Chicago Hilton and Towers, which is across the street and a sweep of our team members:
9:38AM and we're ready to roll. Here we are walking along Balbo over the bridge to Columbus drive where the race starts. A good shot of teammate Karen, who must have wondered who was in the little box I was speaking into.
10:00AM. The runners have just hit the start line and are starting their trek. as we wait our turn. That's a lotta runners!
10:10AM. And we're off! Here we are crossing the start line and getting on our way down Columbus drive toward the museums. Nice shots of Grant Park and a few skyscrapers. Stephen sings and the brass band plays (but not the same song).
10:40-ish AM. We're a half hour in and approaching the one-mile marker. Stephen shows us the last few contribution checks, which he'd just picked up from the office before the walk, and put us over the goal. Well over, even though not everybody thought he would reach his goal. (It's OK, because the person who didn't think so will be thrilled that they weren't right!)
11:00ish AM. We're at about the 1.5 mile marker--passing the museum campus (which is on the right) and the marina. Sorry for the wobbly video--I was walking! I tried to avoid the "Blair Witch" effect to no avail...
11:20AM. We're now at about the two-mile mark, just passing the Chicago Yacht Club. Near Madison and Lake Shore Drive. The red CMA building is visible in the distance. I expound on the virtues of chihuahuas as we pass the ROTC team and get water.
11:45AM. One more view of the museum campus as we reach the 2.5 mile mark. We also pass Brad, That Juggling Guy and get a brief glimpse of him. Note the hideous plaid outfit. The stuff nightmares are made of!
12:15PM. We're on the home stretch walking back south towards Balbo and the finish line, when we come across Chester Cheetah. Who can resist a plush fast-food icon? Not Stephen and Melissa!
12:25PM-ish. We made it! We cross the finish line to thunderous applause, brass band music and more water. Thank God for the water. After this, we headed to the hot dog tent for our free weenies.
So there it is! Thanks for coming on the journey with me, and I apologize again for the shaky camera work. I had lots of fun doing this walk. It was my first time doing this particular walk, and I recommend it for anyone who lives in Chicago and is looking for something fun to do on a Saturday morning in September.
Thanks again to everyone who sponsored me--we raised $17,000, y'all. $17,000. You're the greatest!
On Saturday, I joined the Season of Concern team, headed by the lovely Stephen, for the 2008 Chicago AIDS Walk and Run. It was a great event, a great time and we raised a shitload of money, thanks contributions from the "Wicked" and "Jersey Boy" casts--over $17,000! I brought along my trusty and compact Flip video camera to document the occasion. The following wobbly video chronicles our adventure:
Here, we're gathered in front of the Merle Reskin Theatre at DePaul University's downtown campus, waiting for Michael, the SOC board member who had our team T-shirts. (I keep calling the venue the Merle NORMAN theatre, which of course is incorrect.) A nice view of the outside of the Chicago Hilton and Towers, which is across the street and a sweep of our team members:
9:38AM and we're ready to roll. Here we are walking along Balbo over the bridge to Columbus drive where the race starts. A good shot of teammate Karen, who must have wondered who was in the little box I was speaking into.
10:00AM. The runners have just hit the start line and are starting their trek. as we wait our turn. That's a lotta runners!
10:10AM. And we're off! Here we are crossing the start line and getting on our way down Columbus drive toward the museums. Nice shots of Grant Park and a few skyscrapers. Stephen sings and the brass band plays (but not the same song).
10:40-ish AM. We're a half hour in and approaching the one-mile marker. Stephen shows us the last few contribution checks, which he'd just picked up from the office before the walk, and put us over the goal. Well over, even though not everybody thought he would reach his goal. (It's OK, because the person who didn't think so will be thrilled that they weren't right!)
11:00ish AM. We're at about the 1.5 mile marker--passing the museum campus (which is on the right) and the marina. Sorry for the wobbly video--I was walking! I tried to avoid the "Blair Witch" effect to no avail...
11:20AM. We're now at about the two-mile mark, just passing the Chicago Yacht Club. Near Madison and Lake Shore Drive. The red CMA building is visible in the distance. I expound on the virtues of chihuahuas as we pass the ROTC team and get water.
11:45AM. One more view of the museum campus as we reach the 2.5 mile mark. We also pass Brad, That Juggling Guy and get a brief glimpse of him. Note the hideous plaid outfit. The stuff nightmares are made of!
12:15PM. We're on the home stretch walking back south towards Balbo and the finish line, when we come across Chester Cheetah. Who can resist a plush fast-food icon? Not Stephen and Melissa!
12:25PM-ish. We made it! We cross the finish line to thunderous applause, brass band music and more water. Thank God for the water. After this, we headed to the hot dog tent for our free weenies.
So there it is! Thanks for coming on the journey with me, and I apologize again for the shaky camera work. I had lots of fun doing this walk. It was my first time doing this particular walk, and I recommend it for anyone who lives in Chicago and is looking for something fun to do on a Saturday morning in September.
Thanks again to everyone who sponsored me--we raised $17,000, y'all. $17,000. You're the greatest!
posted by Aaron at 1:19 PM
5 Comments:
I don't know what system you use but I can't get it to open. I can see Youtube and some others.
still it looks like a grat day and congrats on raising a lot of money. That can't be easy in these times. As John McBush says, "We need to get those bastards out of there, they've messed up the last eight years and they have to go." I hope he was looking in a mirror while saying this. ed
They were MySpace videos...I made them public, but possibly you can't view them unless you're a MySpace user (I thought public meant PUBLIC--apparently, they were wrong!)
Yea, I watched the videos on Youtube! My dial up took forever. OMG! there were more people there than in my whole town. It was good to hear your voice but you never turned the camera around so as to be seen. I would have liked to have seen the woman who was a cross between Rosanne Rosannadanna and Opal Purdy Gardner Cortlandt. It was great weather and looked like a very fun time. Did your friends get the Iola Boilin reference? ed
I'm not sure...they might be too young to remember "Mama's Family."
Ah what fun!! Thanks for sharing. It was fun to see Stephen, too. I have been reading his blog for a while, and this is the first time I've seen him in motion. :)
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