Stephen Colbert Talks AIDS
March 31, 2011
Poz blogger Oriol has some great insights on this week’s discussion about AIDS on the Colbert Report, when Anthony Fauci appeared as a guest. I love Colbert, and think he did a great job of conveying the mass misunderstanding of HIV through his on-air character. “I thought it was done!”
My favorite part is when Colbert says that being a white guy = HIV vaccine, after a discussion with Fauci about how HIV affects communities of color at a higher rate. Funny stuff on a deadly serious topic, I honestly think this is one of the best ways to reach the complacent masses, and I hope that Colbert has Fauci back on to talk about other aspects of the epidemic.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
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Website: ShawnandGwenn.com Also check out
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Meet Dirk Roth, Watch His Cool Video
March 30, 2011
I love music videos. The only time I see them is when TiVo picks up 120 Minutes on VH1 Classic, which I highly recommend watching if you haven’t seen it. They show the best. I know, I know, you can YouTube videos anytime… but 120 Minutes really sorts out the quality stuff, and there’s always a Depeche Mode video on the 2 hour program.
A video you won’t see on VH1 Classic is one that I came across when a friend of mine, Mike Johnson of the band Ego Likeness, shared it on Facebook. It’s a video for the band Joy Division, created using Playmobil toys and stop-motion. The creator, Dirk Roth, basically took a live TV performance and recreated it, making something even better than the original.
Compare the two… the real band:
Now check out Dirk’s version…
Pretty awesome, huh? What’s equally awesome is that Dirk agreed to make a music video for Synthetic Division last month… and it debuts soon! More information in a couple of days- stay tuned.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
Feeling Better
March 29, 2011
After a week of feeling under the weather, I’m finally back to my mocha-drinking form. I’m hoping that two weeks over the last month and half is enough sickness to see me through to the summer…
The silver lining is that my body timed this stuff pretty well, aside from having to miss a Book Club meeting last month to discuss My Pet Virus with the coolest group of ladies in Charlottesville. Funny thing is, when I emailed to reschedule for this month, I was sick again just as the date was confirmed. But I went anyway, because I wasn’t contagious and I felt like the Club would think I was dying if I missed out two times in a row. Aside from fighting back coughs last week, I made it through and it was a very cool experience.
Now, I’m looking forward to healthier days. April is going to be busier than the last couple of months, so I’m hoping I’ve punched my sick card and don’t have to deal with any more sluggish spells. In the meantime, I’m writing new music and am hoping to take Synthetic Division on the road for a couple of weeks this summer. Of course, I’ll post all updates on that front here on the blog.
Hope this update finds you feeling well!
Positively Yours,
Shawn
WWE Wrestles With Gay Issue
March 28, 2011
I am an unapologetic pro wrestling fan. Oh, wait, sports entertainment fan. WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) takes great pains in correcting journalists who label their product “professional wrestling”, as that is far too limiting in scope when you consider the long line of products (from movies to merch) that the family-friendly company offers.
But I’m not a journalist, I’m just a longtime fan since I was kid. Old habits are hard to break, so I’ll just call it “pro wrestling”. In fact, one of my dreams is to write for the company down the road, one this little HIV thing is cured. It’s nice to keep up with the happenings by continuing to tune, so my transition from talking and writing about AIDS can be as seamless as possible.
Recently my beloved sport has run into a long-running issue: homophobia. A couple of weeks ago, their biggest hero to children, John Cena, raised the ire of GLAAD when he delivered a speech aimed at the Rock. While rapping about his nemesis and his movie career, Cena joked that everyone knows that the Rock is more Brokeback Mountain than Witch Mountain. See what he’s doing? He’s suggesting that the Rock isn’t a real man by insinuating that he is gay.
Aside from trying to diminish the value of a fellow fan-favorite by gay-baiting, Cena also targeted the company’s current champion and my 2008 Person of the Year, the purposefully arrogant Mike The Miz. As the Miz stood in the ring with his lackey, Alex Riley, Cena smirked whilst wearing jorts and a trucker hat, telling a live crowd and TV audience of millions that Miz and Riley were partners in more ways than one. Wink wink, nudge nudge. That they shopped together at Bed, Bath & Beyond… I’d estimate that Cena’s biggest fans are between the ages of 8-12, what good does this kind of tactic do for them?
WWE issued an apology on Cena’s behalf, although the top star himself remained silent. They said they value their gay fans and will work with GLAAD to make sure this doesn’t happen again. See, in wrestling stars like Cena get a little more free reign on the mic, so it was a good move for GLAAD to explain to their heroes (and villains) why targeting gay people might make life for gay youth a living hell… because all gay teenagers need are classmates in jorts targeting them.
I was quite happy to see the immediate response from WWE about partnering with GLAAD. Whether they took a trip to Bed, Bath & Beyond is unknown.
The honeymoon phase of the new partnership got off to a rocky start. Via Twitter, the company’s top villain/announcer, Michael Cole, struck. In a public message to a fellow broadcaster, he tweeted one word: “faggot”. When TMZ helped to expose the situation, he posted a lame apology and the following, “I was not ordered to apologize I said I am sorry because I am. Now can I get back to being a character again please?” He deleted this, along with the original post of “faggot”. It seems to be his way of saying he tweets as his on-air persona, but he’d never dare to utter the word “faggot” on national television, so it’s a flimsy, thinly veiled excuse.
It’s not known whether or not he would have been forced to apologize. I personally believe that WWE would have made him, as they can’t be pleased with the embarrassing behavior one week out from their biggest event of the year, Wrestlemania. What is known is that, over the course of three weeks, the company’s top hero and heel found common ground when it came to stepping on not only their gay wrestling fans, but fans who are straight and get how damaging this kind of language and psychology can be.
Is it grown men pretending to kill each other? Yes. But with most of the onscreen time these days being dedicated to talking instead of wrestling, it’s just as important for the wrestlers and company to choose their words wisely. One mistake in a match injures one or two people, but one mistake on the mic could prove physically harmful to many outside of the ring.
I’m hoping they get this all cleaned up by the time the cure rolls around and I start writing pro wrestling storylines for a living.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
Watch, Friend and Follow me on:
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Website: ShawnandGwenn.com Also check out the lovely Gwenn’s Fashion/Coffee Blog
My CD, Synthetic Division, A Symptom of Life, is on iTunes!
SHARE THE BLOG. NOT THE VIRUS.
Elizabeth Taylor: A Moving Star to the AIDS Community
March 24, 2011
Elizabeth Taylor is a legend for a far more important reason than pretending to be someone else while being filmed.
In the 1980′s, when this country and her own inner-circle of friends were beginning to see the harsh realities of AIDS and it’s unbearable stigma, she spoke out. Also, she never stopped caring about people whose lives had been shaken by HIV, even as others in Hollywood moved on to more fashionable causes in the late 1990′s.
No, Liz stuck by us.
As her own health was failing, she would attend fundraisers and give moving speeches about the issues of HIV/AIDS, such as discrimination and homophobia. If AIDS were a physical entity- and I think it’s helpful to think of it as such since HIV’s power is living in the silence of shadows- then it certainly picked a fight with the wrong person when it targeted Liz’s friend, Rock Hudson.
Ultimately, it was her honest and moving reaction to the moral backlash associated with a sexually transmitted infection such as HIV that made Liz a friend to all of us who are living with HIV. And we’re surely going to miss our beloved friend.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
Click the image above to read her 1997 interview with Poz magazine. Check out Sean Strub’s memories of how that interview came to be.
Watch, Friend and Follow me on:
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Website: ShawnandGwenn.com Also check out the lovely Gwenn’s Fashion/Coffee Blog
My CD, Synthetic Division, A Symptom of Life, is on iTunes!
SHARE THE BLOG. NOT THE VIRUS.
Stop the Bullying
March 23, 2011
Bullies suck. As a youth, I was never bullied beyond the norm- probably because my self-esteem was always high and I had a sharp tongue. Also, in elementary school, I wasn’t above punching a close friend if any kind of teasing got out of hand.
I guess the only time I was a… I hate this word… victim of bullying was on an administrative level when I was kicked out of the 6th grade for being HIV positive. After that, most of the bullying came from within, the silent nudges of a virus that was trying to tell me I was different. Most times I ignored it. Or, as I framed it in My Pet Virus, I gave my virus a healthy dose of the silent treatment, refusing to utter it’s name in an attempt to sap its power over me.
These days, the message of anti-bullying is getting some wings, particularly the bullying of gay and lesbian youth. Part of growing up is growing out of the malicious phase of our human nature… some do succeed in this, some not so much. But the earlier we teach people not to prey on a minority for being “different” than us, the better the chance of a dickhead child not turning into a dickhead adult.
That written, here’s a great video about a kid who says he was bullied for years, and finally stood up for himself. I think that the theme of this should be a worldwide promotional tool. First, we’ll use words to encourage you not to bully. If that doesn’t work? Bodyslams.
The bully in this story, 12-year old Ritchard, also sat down for an interview. He claims he was bullied, too. I just thank the heavens that my jackass friends didn’t have cellphones or video cameras when I was growing up.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
Watch, Friend and Follow me on:
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Website: ShawnandGwenn.com Also check out
the lovely Gwenn’s
Fashion/Coffee Blog
My CD, Synthetic Division, A Symptom of Life, is on iTunes!
SHARE THE BLOG. NOT THE VIRUS.
Contest Is Over… Now What?
March 21, 2011
So the next installment of the Labtest Contest isn’t until July, when my labs are drawn two days before I spend a week celebrating my 36th birthday. But I can’t fall into the trap of looking forward to mid-summer excitement, which is four months away… so what does a positoid do to entertain himself?
I haven’t posted too much about finishing my second book, because I think I’ve posted in the past about “finishing” my second book. To be honest, I haven’t put the finishing touches on it to the point of where I’m willing to submit it to my agent. One of the reasons why I haven’t obsessed over it recently is because writing takes away quality time with Gwenn.
Awwwwwwww….
I know, I’m being mushy. But after the last go around with tweaking, writing, printing and reading my next book, I realized that the hours a day I was spending on it wasn’t worth the frustration it was causing. And the doubt. All the usual “writer crap”. With My Pet Virus, I had natural writing spells followed by lulls that inspired the next batch of writing spells. It was organic. With the second book, I set aside time, put in the hours, and in a tangible sense I don’t have anything to show for it at this point….
By the way, the next book is a vampire book and I’m not embarrassed to divulge this. I started a while back, before the first Twilight movie hit the theaters. My reasoning for writing a vampire story was to do something different and indulge my love of horror: horror with a sense of humor. When the moon is full or the mood strikes again, I’ll get back to it. One of the problems with reasonably decent health (for me) is that I don’t feel like there’s a clock ticking. If there was, finishing this book wouldn’t really be at the top of my priorities list.
In terms of time and energy, something that is far less consuming is music. I’m planning to write some new songs this year, with hopes of releasing another Synthetic Division CD next year. The appeal of doing music is that it’s instant. I can write a song and share it with people in a very short period of time. With writing a book, it’s different. I accomplished a decade-long goal when My Pet Virus was published in 2006, and the messages I continue to get from people who are discovering the book today makes me feel like I’m contributing something to the planet even though I spend a lot of time drinking iced mochas and napping.
The next book will not have the personal impact that Pet did, because it’s a made-up story about made-up people, even though some real life problems do creep in. That could be another reason why I’m having a hard time dedicating more time to it than I already have. That, and sometimes when I read what I write I feel like I’m not very sharp. Music trumps fiction writing because I’m a happier guy when I’m working on music. So setting aside some time over the next few months for that is going to be my plan.
And we’ll just have to see if synthpop can help get those t-cells back up to the 600 mark.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
Watch, Friend and Follow me on:
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Website: ShawnandGwenn.com Also check out the lovely Gwenn’s Fashion/Coffee Blog
My CD, Synthetic Division, A Symptom of Life, is on iTunes!
SHARE THE BLOG. NOT THE VIRUS.
The Lab Results Are In! (Winner Announced)
March 18, 2011
Sharon Paul did it- no one else was even close! She guessed 520, and the actual t-cell count came in at 508. Seems a bit low, but the t-cell % came in at 30, up one from four months ago when I last had labs. My viral load was detectable at 150-something.
All very acceptable numbers.
Now, I guessed 619, but I had a feeling I was dipping into the 500′s on this go-around. There are a few reasons why. I’d spent a week sick before going to Anguilla. Then in Anguilla I really didn’t get too much rest, was operating on way less sleep than usual. On top of that, I was on a week off meds when I went to Anguilla, and actually extended the week of to about 9 days, because the first night I got home I was exhausted and crashed out, and the next night I wasn’t hungry at bed time, and my stomach was upset so I didn’t want to take my pills because you have to take food with them. (And I was still catching up on sleep so I didn’t want to disturb that.)
It’s funny, if my t-cell count came in at 499 I’d beat myself up a little more for my decision-making. But those graceful 8 t-cells kept me in the 500′s. And before this particular contest, I even moved the goal posts for guessing from 400-700 to 450-750. Looks like they are going back to the original markers.
Thanks to everyone who guessed! I really love that so many of you guys participate. I enjoy the smacktalk and rationale and the high of hopes of people thinking they will be the champion of my t-cells. This all makes the once-feared labtests of my youth as fun as they toys my mom bought me after labs to make up for the terrible waste of an afternoon.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
Watch, Friend and Follow me on:
YouTube, Facebook and Twitter
Website: ShawnandGwenn.com Also check out the lovely Gwenn’s Fashion/Coffee Blog
My CD, Synthetic Division, A Symptom of Life, is on iTunes!
SHARE THE BLOG. NOT THE VIRUS.
LIFE IN PHOTOS
Shit got whack at da coffee shop today.
One of my #Halo friends is a vicious monster who will attack the moment you turn your back to him. Every Team Slayer match is basically 3 on 5 with him involved. The game should have trials for war crimes as a game mode.
Yesterday the neighbor's cat paid us a visit. His name is Hobbes, and it was our first meeting. He is very friendly.
I know what you all want, and it isn't pasty European Heavyweight champions... it's me drinking iced mochas. Behold.
Speaking About Sexual Health
Since 2000, Shawn and Gwenn have been speaking about sexual health together, sharing their personal story and empowering others to be safe. If you are interested in having them speak at your event, fill out the Contact Us form.
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It will be the funniest book you've ever read about someone having AIDS... guaranteed!