Recent Live Events
June 17, 2009
NOTE: THIS BLOG IS AN HTML MESS, WILL FIX WHEN I GET HOME!
Quick blog. Here’s a couple of places I’ve been recently. For a birthday gift, my parents bought Gwenn tickets to see her favorite band, No Doubt, who happen to be one of my faves, too.
We got trapped in traffic on the 3-hour car trip to Virginia Beach, mainly because humans hate to drive into tunnels underwater. Gwenn was really frustrated, but we allowed enough time for the over hour delay. I told her that for thousands and thousands of years humans didn’t travel by car, nor were they capable of traveling “underwater” at over the speed of their ability to swim. Not sure if my explanation helped or fanned Gwenn’s flames of frustration.
No Doubt, however, put on a show worthy of the irritation of getting there. So glad they decided to get back on the road together. That was last week, this week we went to see some pro wrestling! Gwenn’s first live event. “The Punjabi Prince” The Great Khali was there, as was Chris Jericho, Edge and Jeff Hardy.
Here’s a shot- no, that’s not me holding the sign.
At both shows, I learned moves for an upcoming Synthetic Division show. More in the next blog or two about that, right now I’m off to eat a bowl of cereal and hit the road to speak at a retreat for positoids in the woods. Seriously!
Till then, I hope you are feelin’ hella good.
Oh yeah yeah.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
Share the Blog. Not the Virus. 
Competitive Anger Management
June 16, 2009
Last night I went to pool league, and obtained my championship mug. For the second season in a row, the 8-man 8-Ball team I play on- The Overlords- have been the points leaders in Charlottesville. I couldn’t believe I haven’t bragged about it on the blog yet.
Receiving the mug should have been a good thing, but lately my competitive spirit has started to take over my life. There’s no official name for what I’m feeling, so I’m going to call it ACADS: Acute Competitive Anger Disorder Syndrome. There’s no need for the “Syndrome” at the end, it just sounds better with the “S”.
Anyway, I’m really putting a lot of pressure on myself to defend the Stroke Play putt putt championship next time I play Ben, and to hold up my end of the bargain in pool league alongside the Overlords. Now, when I compete, it’s not just for my own ego, it’s for the hopes and dreams of everyone living with AIDS.
Representing an entire community- while glorious- definitely has it’s drawbacks.
I’m trying an experimental therapy to nip ACADS in the bud. This week, I’m going to a live wrestling event. Kind of a shock therapy. By watching 3 consecutive hours of wrestling without the fast forward feature on TiVo, I’ll be exposing myself to others who have, or at least pretend to have, ACADS as well. (To see my Poz column in which I interviewed Ric Flair, go here.)
Wish me luck!
Positively Yours,
Shawn
PS… tired of waiting for a blog entry? You can follow my ultra-annoying tweets on Twitter!
Share the Blog. Not the Virus.
HIV Positive Athletes
June 15, 2009
A lot of people know I’m HIV positive. In fact, it’s kind of my calling card. I’m funny dude with AIDS who cracks jokes at his own expense. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a good gig. Here’s a little real life story that happened last week.
I go to a friend’s house- who will remain unnamed- and I find him playing Halo with another friend. It’s a funny scene, because they are wearing headsets and talking to other players online. “There’s only 8 minutes left in the mission,” my friend said. I sat on the couch and, though the graphics on the big screen TV were incredible, I couldn’t take my eyes of my buddies.
They looked ridiculous. It took every ounce of restraint not to snap a picture and load it to my Twitter page. “Our friend is laughing at us,” my friend said to his comrades online, adding. “But he’s the one who has AIDS.”
It was a good line and I was impressed by the quickness and ease of delivery. Plus, my friends know I enjoy this type of humor, and usually am the one who instigates. The gamers on the other end of those headsets must have been confused by the statement, and my retort probably didn’t help. I rebounded faster than Magic Johnson (I have no idea if he was good at rebounds in his day) with: “Yeah- and I have hemophilia, too, and I just realized I could kick two of my friends’ ass at one time!”
This funny little tale brings me to a much bigger issue… since Magic Johnson returned to the NBA for a season after testing positive to prove that he still had it (speaking of having “game”, not “HIV”), the positoid community has had a massive void in the Incredible Athlete division. A void I plan on filling in the sport of putt putt.
This summer, I plan on taking over the sport, one windmill at a time, and I have a friend, Ben, who has agreed to represent the entire negatoid community this summer during our matches- er, battles.
Every community has had a big showdown in which they prove they are equals. In boxing, Jack Johnson knocked out the Great White Hope in James Jeffries to become the first African American champion. In tennis, female Billie Jean King toppled the ultimate man’s man in Bobby Riggs, emasculating billions of men in bars in the process. But athletes with HIV haven’t had their sporting moment in the sun.
Well, that changes this summer, when I destroy my friend Ben. What’s best about that is that I’ve already beaten him once and uploaded the scorecard to Facebook. You can see the damage from last week’s game framing this landmark blog entry for sports fans with HIV.
All summer I’ll be competing on behalf of people with HIV. And when I’ve conquered putt putt, I’ll move to another sport, maybe bocce ball. The good thing about putt putt is that it will keep me in shape, so when there is a cure for hemophilia I can seamlessly transition into boxing and make history there, too.
Whatever sport I dominate, I will compete and carry myself with dignity. In victory- and inevitably, defeat- you will all be proud of me as I represent the fine citizens of the world who share not only my competitive drive, but my HIV status as well.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
More Porn Stars Are Positive
June 13, 2009
Yesterday it was announced that at least 16 porn stars have tested positive since 2004, which brings the total to 22 over the last five years.
Unlike me, in high school and college Gwenn went beyond Algebra I pt. 2. She assured me that with roughly 1,200 people in the porn industry each year, five positives a year would mean that you have a .0033 chance of contracting HIV if you enter porn as a career. Of course, prevention is everything, so how you conduct yourself offset and what scenes you star in have some bearing on risk factors.
But what about testing?
At a recent porn convention in L.A. , some in the industry thought the 30-day voluntary HIV tests were doing their job, while others suggested that more were needed. Adult film star Belladonna said, “I don’t think 30 days is good enough. This is our bodies, our life, our
work.” Belladonna also retweeted (on Twitter) that having another active STD makes you more vulnerable to HIV infection. Being informed is sexy, isn’t it?
Unlike the storylines in a porn movie, the plot in this one is thickening by the red, hot and blue minute.
And yes, I know I could have used the word “thickening” in a better context there.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
Share the Blog. Not the Virus.
Porn Star Tests Positive for HIV
June 12, 2009
A female pornstar has tested positive for HIV, which brings back memories from 2004 when a male performer tested positive and shut the entire industry down amidst safety concerns.
In actuality, the adult film industry as a hole- er, whole- has done very well with their testing programs for HIV.
The article on Poz, linked above, reports that there is concern over the high incidence of chlamydia and gonorrhea infections and how that plays into the push for mandatory condom use in all adult entertainment movies.
Well, unless the industry is really covering up HIV infections, you have to take your jimmyhat off to them. Think about it- how many acts of unprotected sex have been performed by routinely (every 30 days) tested “actors”? To have one infection in 5 years is something to be applauded, not criticized.
Health officials are cracking down. But if California is worried about sexually transmitted infections, then what’s holding them back from invading every college campus in the state? I’m sure that all of the campuses in California combined are reporting more than 60 to 80 new cases of chlamydia and gonorrhea infections a month.
To me, the best thing for adult film stars is to have comprehensive education about how to protect themselves off set, when they are engaging in sexual acts with people whose jobs do not require STI testing. And the best thing for college students?
Take a lesson in HIV testing from a pornstar.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
Share the Blog. Not the Virus.
Reagan Statue, Like Prez Himself, Is Silent on AIDS
June 11, 2009
Last week a 40-foot bronze statue of Ronald Reagan was unveiled in Washington DC. Here’s a speech given by Congressman John Boehner, who cries, yet again.
Boehner, like many Republicans, has a soft spot the size of the national debt for Reagan. But for people with AIDS, Reagan is not a symbol of a better time. He’s the chief enabler of an act of domestic terrorism. Harsh? Reality can be. Can you imagine 40,000 people dying today and the president saying nothing? (I’m including W. in this hypothetical, too.) Ten Americans get the sniffles today, and Obama would be on CNN with a box of tissues and a tear in his eye.
But then, when Reagan finally spoke, his words were dickish. You can hear them here.
“… let’s be honest with ourselves, AIDS information can not be what some call ‘value neutral.’ After all, when it comes to preventing AIDS, don’t medicine and morality teach the same lessons.” Ronald Reagan, April 2, 1987
Maybe I’m missing the point here. Perhaps that statue isn’t the worst idea, because it will provide school children with an excellent lesson on exactly how Reagan dealt with the crisis, which went on to kill millions upon millions more. “Kids, any questions for the president about AIDS?”
Positively Yours,
Shawn
Share the Blog. Not the Virus.
Sean Strub on Activism
June 8, 2009
Through my boyish charm and way with the written word, I was able to catch up with Sean Strub online and get his thoughts on the early days of AIDS activism, as well as what went down in Hollywood last Friday at the protest…
Hey Sean, how did the protest in CA go?
Sheryl Lee Ralph was amazing, passionate, well-informed and rallied the crowd. She spoke several times. There was no civil disobedience. The crowd was lively and worked up, but not especially large.
Sounds good. Do activist groups like ACT UP have more potential for change with Obama in the White House as opposed to Bush?
I think it depends on the specific issue at hand. Certainly the potential for change with Obama is vastly greater than with Bush, but the process to affect that change is much different. With Bush, we were totally iced out; with Obama we have people like Jeff Crowley, the former deputy director of NAPWA, as his federal AIDS Policy Coordinator. He’s just one example, but across the administration the level of expertise and experience with the epidemic is vastly greater and comes from a different perspective.
It’s seems like you’d have to be nicer with an administration that might actually help you, but then again, it’s easier to get angry at someone whom you expect more from...
I wish they would have already lifted the ban on needle exchange and other things, but the single most important thing the Obama administration can do for people with HIV is to get universal health coverage. If everything else, in terms of the epidemic, needs to be put on hold in favor of that priority, for strategic reasons, then I am willing to be patient.
While you are being patient, care to reflect on a favorite personal ACT UP moment from the past?
In terms of specific moments the two that first come to mind are when Peter Staley, and I were on top of the roof of Sen. Jesse Helms’ house, unfurling the giant condom.
I love that one. It’s a Will Ferrell movie waiting to happen.
There’s also the moment during the Stop the Church! demonstration at St. Patrick’s cathedral when I took communion. The group I was part of (were we called the “Hail Marys”?) all took communion and when the priest held up the consecrated host and said “The Body of Christ” we would say something like “Safe Sex is Moral Sex!” or “I support a woman’s right to choose!” or whatever. I said “May the Lord bless the man I love who died a year ago today” as it was the anniversary of Michael Misove’s death.
That’s hardcore, Sean. And I love that phrase, by the way, “Safe Sex is Moral Sex”. Thanks for sharing the activist insight, and if there’s ever another home that needs to be fitted with a giant condom, count me in.
You bet.
Share the Blog. Not the Virus.
ACT UP: Salvation?
June 5, 2009
I recently saw the horrible new Terminator movie, which I refused to review for the Hemo2Homo Connection. I’d waited years to see a movie based around that opening action sequence in the original… oh well. At least this funny internet video was born from it.
In those movies, so much of the plot is around the issue of the past affecting the future, and the future’s attempts to meddle in the issues of the past to shape the future. The latter is a quick fix solution that inevitably complicates matters… but, recent events have led me to believe that the future of HIV/AIDS activism may well be its past.
The same month and year that I was diagnosed (March 1987), ACT UP was formed to raise awareness about the epidemic with bold events, political accountability and fearless tactics. The reason for the group’s existence was simple: people with AIDS were sick and tired of watching people with AIDS die.
I was happy to hear that former Poz cover boy and ass-kicker Bob Bowers had a hand in forming ACT UP Wisconsin this year, and I really think that, with the internet and the ability to enter peoples’ homes without using excessive force or mainstream media, there may be a huge role for the resurgence of the ACT UP mantra.
Today, California HIV/AIDS activists are speaking out against budget cuts in the state that will drastically reduce services to the positoid community. At 5 pm (PST), activists are also planning to close down Santa Monica Blvd. If there’s a news program on TV that reports news at 8 pm (EST) on Friday night, I’ll be interested to see if either event even makes news.
What’s cool about that is that the people making the news will be- hopefully- posting videos on YouTube and other social networking sites. It’s the way of the future. It’s the way of the past. ACT UP was successful for using what was at their disposal in 1987. There weren’t any life-saving HIV medications, but there was a caring ear and hand in the national media, and they did what they had to to get it’s attention. Now, the same fists that are waved in defiance are also holding cameras, which can transmit these events to every house that has a computer and internet access.
With the economy in shambles it’s important that people with HIV continue to have access to decent health care. I know Governor Arnold is in a tight spot, but we can’t let him say, “Hasta la vista, baby” to money that is desperately needed for positoids in his state.
As for ACT UP itself, the most famous phrase comes to mind: “I’ll be back.”
Positively Yours,
Shawn
Share the Blog. Not the Virus.
Reality Check
June 4, 2009
So Eminem was in on the Bruno gag- I was fooled. It won’t be the first or last time. Kudos to Eminem and his entourage for “playing it straight”… I thought Sacha Baron Cohen wouldn’t have done it that way, only because a prank within a prank where nothing is real might seem kind of lame.
But either way, it was executed well. Outside of Bruno’s world of fake gay drama and real homophobia, what isn’t lame is the state of New Hampshire’s decision to legalize gay marriage. And how about the two attorneys who opposed one another in the 2000 Bush V. Gore Supreme Court case teaming up in order to fight the common enemy of discrimination against gays as it pertains to the “opposite marriage” issue?
The tide is turning, and I don’t want to be distracted during this exciting time. Because anytime the ass of Justice drops into the face of Discrimination, it’s a good thing. Don’t get me wrong, I love pop culture. But what I love even more is when real culture, common sense, and the idea of right prevailing over wrong comes together. That feels good.
And it’s definitely no joke.
Positively Yours,
Shawn
Share the Blog. Not the Virus.
Bruno’s Balls Out Performance
June 1, 2009
Bruno meets Eminem at the MTV Movie Awards.
The YouTube video may be taken down by the time you read this blog. If so search “Eminem Movie Awards” over and over again until you see the clip from the MTV Movie Awards, a 2-hour promo for the Twilight sequel in which the main actors came across as too cool for school. The highlight was Bruno (Sasha Baron Cohen of Borat fame) descending from the ceiling in an angel-winged get-up. A “mishap” occurs, and he drops down into the 69 position right on top of Eminem.
Who freaks out as his yes men/bodyguards start manhandling Bruno. It reminded of when another one of my favorite comedians, Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, pissed off Eminem at the MTV Music Awards several years ago. Em is a classic bully. He can dress up as stars and make fun of them, but if someone pranks him he doesn’t handle it too well.
Yeah, he’s a rapper and a guy’s balls were in his face. But c’mon, it’s the entertainment business. And rappers need to stop pretending they are all straight anyway. They way they oversell that. Really, how many times do you have to say you bang girls - lots of girls- in one song? At first, I thought Eminem was in on it, but after watching it on TiVo several times, I think his entourage would have given it away if they knew it was going to “go down”, so to speak.
As for the Twilight co-stars, they looked a little too cool to be there. I was hoping Bruno and his family jewels would drop down a few more times to liven things up. But what do you expect with vampires? The actors kind of epitomize my issue with the whole genre: that it takes itself way too seriously.
Kind of like Eminem, I guess. I was going to order Twilight on In Demand, now that I’ve finished the vampire book, but now I’m not sure. I might wait for Bruno: The Vampire Slayer to get made, in which teabagging unsuspecting rappers is the new holy water or crucifix defense against bloodsuckers.
I could be waiting a long time. Unless I write that story myself. Hmmmmm…
Positively Yours,
Shawn
Share the Blog. Not the Virus.
-
Decker's Daily Coffee
More Photos