Too Many People
Even as I type this, I'm watching part two of the riveting and exquisitely produced Frontline documentary The Age of AIDS on PBS. I didn't mean to get hooked last night and I didn't mean to get hooked again tonight -- I have a ton of things to do, including writing this long-overdue post -- but it's an exceptional program: dramatic -- even suspenseful -- infuriating, moving, expansively informative. Truly television with a world view. If you missed it, it will be available for viewing online at the above link starting Friday at 5 pm.
***
Last night I saved $3 on my grocery tab at Safeway while simultaneously staking out my side in the Paul-vs.-Heather split.
***
Last night I saved $3 on my grocery tab at Safeway while simultaneously staking out my side in the Paul-vs.-Heather split.
My allegiance predates posthumous mac-and-cheese by decades: We're talking the second album I ever bought. (And this one was the first.)
posted by Billy at 9:55 PM
5 Comments:
Actual vinyl? Or did you mean "album" in the sort of generic sense?
I don't think I ever bought a vinyl album. By the time I hit my teenage music-buying years, we all bought cassettes. Ah! The joys of mix tapes ... didn't Hank Steuver write a piece about that?
Anyway, the first album my older brother bought was Shaun Cassidy's Do Run Run (or whatever). I'm sure he's embarassed to admit that, so I tell everyone.
Yes, I mean actual vinyl, my young friend. You know, they did sell those well into the 1980s.
I forced myself to stay awake two nights in a row even though I was exhausted to be able to watch this FRONTLINE series. I thought I knew a lot about AIDS, but this documentary taught me a lot, too. I was a little bit surprised that they said so little about what trends there are these days in the U.S.; e.g., who's getting the virus now, young people's ideas of what AIDS is, how many people are dying vs. how long people are surviving and what their quality of life is, etc. Did you notice that Larry Kramer was not interviewed or mentioned? ... In the late 80s I wore a PWA bracelet for a while, similar to the POW/MIA bracelets of the 70s. (Does anyone remember those?) ... As for vinyl albums, I still have a small collection that I hate to part with -- in a plastic milk crate, of course!
I also watched ... I lost a whole generation of friends in the 80's (and one just last year) this program brought them all back to me.
I also remember Ronald Reagan and his refusal to mention the word AIDS. One little word that took so long for him to utter. I and most people I know will never forgive him.
A truly sad part is South Africa and Thabo Mbeki ... his refusal to believe that HIV causes AIDS is remarkable. Luckily there are smarter people who have figured out ways around him ... but in the meantime millions more were infected because of his ignorance.
DMP
i have to get someone to record that program for me. although i (as of today) now work for an organization that advocates for AIDS awareness and education and can probably get it from a coworkers who may have TIVOed it.
as for vinyl, "they" still make it but its mostly the domain (what's the right word here - terrain, dominion, province?) of DJ's who use the albums for remixing.
i can't remember what my first vinyl was but i think it may have been a KISS album.
Post a Comment
<< Home