May/102
Parkinson’s Week – Day 3
Let’s raise some money to find a cure.
Tonight is our first event for the PDRS Junior Board.
http://pdrsassociateboardevent.eventbrite.com
My involvement with the charity is personal. My father has been battling Parkinson’s for over 15 years. The doctors now claim that while he was diagnosed at the age of 60 (he is now 76), the disease may have been building in his body up to 10 years prior.
Right now, there is no cure. And the cocktail of pills has to be constantly adjusted. My dad constantly will build immunity to one pill dosage and then have to switch. And this is not a quick switch. This switch is filled with highs, lows, tremors and bouts of confusion.
Do you have any idea how long 15 years is in dad–to–daughter years? That is my dad’s body fighting within itself through college graduation, moves from coast to coast, jobs and boyfriends. All the while, never really letting me onto how sick he was. It was only in the last two years did the disease progress to the point he could no longer hide it from me.
From this week’s blog, you can see there are ways to get involved. I appreciate all of the support from my friends for my family.
May/100
Parkinson’s Week Day 2
Dick’s Sporting Goods
PART 1- Running Photos
- Visit Dick’s Sporting Goods Facebook fan page
- Attach a running photo to the wall and click “Share” to submit
- Dick’s will donate $1 to Team Fox for every photo submitted
Part 2 – Runner’s Month
Please join the Dick's Sporting Goods National Runners' Month in the fight against Parkinson's disease. By supporting our Team Fox efforts, you are helping The Michael J. Fox Foundation achieve its mission to bring better treatments and, ultimately, a cure to people living with Parkinson's disease.
About Dick's Sporting Goods National Runners' Month:
May 2010 is Dick's Sporting Goods National Runners' Month, an initiative to promote running and highlight the retailer's deep commitment to serving runners. The Dick's Sporting Goods National Runners' Month includes major event sponsorship, Web, social media, mobile marketing, store promotions, and other activities aimed at helping runners enjoy their sport. The official Dick's Sporting Goods National Runners' Month Event Calendar includes the following ten races:
- - Alexandria Running Festival, Washington, D.C., May 2
- - Dick's Sporting Goods Pittsburgh Marathon, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, May 2
- - Chuy's Hot to Trot, Austin, Texas, May 8
- - Palos Verde Marathon, Los Angeles, California, May 15
- - Strawberry Festival, San Diego, California, May 30
- - Brentwood 10K, Los Angeles, California, May 30
- - Stillwater Marathon, Stillwater, Minnesota, May 30
- - Ridge Run 10K, Chicago, Illinois, May 31
- - Dick's Sporting Goods Bolder Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, May 31
- - Starlight Run, Portland, Oregon, June 5
Why Team Fox?
- An estimated one million people in the United States and over five million worldwide are living with Parkinson's disease.
- In the United States, 60,000 new cases of PD will be diagnosed this year alone.
- There is no known cure for Parkinson's disease. Currently available treatments temporarily mask symptoms while the disease continues to progress.
- The Michael J. Fox Foundation is dedicated to finding a cure for Parkinson's disease through an aggressively funded research agenda. MJFF is committed to ensuring the development of improved therapies for those living with Parkinson's today. As the largest nonprofit funder of PD research worldwide, MJFF works to identify and prioritize scientific solutions that hold promise to improve patient's quality of life.
- Together we can cross the finish line in the race for a cure.
Oct/090
Halloween – Haunted Houses
Haunted houses are thought to originate from the Amityville Horror – a true story that was made into a movie in 1979.
The Amityville home stills stands on Ocean Avenue in Long Island, NY
Downtown – WGN Haunted House
Chronicles of the Cursed: Hades Emerges, Chicago's premier haunted house experience is now open at 560 W. Grand Avenue. The haunted house is the largest in Chicago with more than 20,000 square feet of bone-chilling monsters, ghouls, zombies, hellions, and other frightening beings. Victims will experience the rage of Hades, a killing factory, the dead coming alive, toys turning into demons, parking meters demanding blood, and other truly disturbing experiences.
Chicago's largest haunted house was designed by the renowned Joe Jensen, creator of the Hades Haunted Houses. Chronicles of the Cursed: Hades Emerges is conveniently located downtown Chicago and is easily accessed by the Blue Line (Milwaukee & Grand stop) or the Grand Avenue bus. Parking is available.
Admission is $20 and tickets are available online or at the door. Don't miss Chicago's largest and best haunted house experience, open October 9th - November 1st.
- 560 W. Grand Ave
Around Town – STATESVILLE HAUNTED PRISON
Come, let the prisoners of STATESVILLE HAUNTED PRISON® take you on a tour into the underbelly of this house of evil. You will find your way through these dark ancient walls, into thirty (30) of the prison's maximum-security cells. In this darkness, you will encounter over 200 of the most dangerous monsters ever imprisoned. Hannibal the Cannibal, The Clown, Dr. Vierhof and his Maniacs, and our Warden, the Demon of Darkness, are all waiting around every corner for you! This October, take the ultimate trip into the mouth of madness, deep into the dungeons of STATESVILLE HAUNTED PRISON®, where you will be forced to witness unspeakable horrors!
Statesville Haunted Prison® is a Chicago haunted house that has been scaring Chicagoland haunted attraction lovers for over a decade! Statesville Haunted Prison® was voted the #1 haunted house in Chicago for 8 years by the users of HauntedHouseChicago.com. For 2009 we have 10 new rooms!
Statesville Haunted Prison® - NO ONE ESCAPES!
Out-of-Town – Long Island Fear Festival
Long Island Fear Festival, opening October 16th in Old Bethpage!
In the heart of historic Old Bethpage Village Restoration, Long Island Fear Fest is one of the most unique and frightening haunted house(s) that the East Coast has to offer, housed in an historic building which is horrifying from the outside, before even entering.
LIFF spans 3 separate 1600+ square foot, very haunted houses. Participants have the option to enter 1, 2, or even all 3 houses (IF THEY DARE!!!) where they will attempt to maneuver their way through each of the houses' 12+ rooms while being taunted and surprised by 35 or more of the scariest actors any casting call has ever produced
This year's Fear Festival effects include an electric chair, chain saws that bolt from out of the blue and bombshells at every turn. In addition to the unending special effects, one never knows when one will encounter the ghost of a civil war solider from Company "E" of the 14th Brooklyn Regiment, who is still searching for his true resting place. Zombies abound and creatures of the night lurk in every passageway.
Oct/090
Blue-Green Games
Chicago 2016’s concept for the Blue-Green Games will create ideal conditions for athletes by:
- providing athletes with optimal venues
- addressing the air they breathe and even the water that sustains them
The concept is simple: blue for clean air and water, and green for parks and nature.
Working with more than 75 public and private organizations, Chicago 2016 has developed a plan that will reduce the total impact of the Games—on both carbon and water—so that the only footprints remaining after the Closing Ceremony belong to the athletes.
The Blue-Green Games concept is built around five core principles:
- Climate Cool – Deliver a low-carbon Games through a combination of energy-efficient and renewable technologies
- Water Positive – Not only reduce water usage during the Games, but also increase access to clean water for people throughout the world
- Resource Saving – Minimize waste by reusing or recycling 85% of the materials used for the Games
- Habitat Friendly – Balance the urban with the natural in all aspects of the Olympic Village and venues and expand the city’s green spaces after the Games
- Legacy Sustainable – Create an ongoing legacy by establishing a Sustainable Sport Institute and showcasing technological innovations that promote sustainability
Sep/090
Pros & Cons of Olympics 2016
This is by no means meant to be a political blog, but last week I picked up Mindful Metroplis at Whole Foods. The article on Tom Tesser’s fight through “No Games Chicago” was a perspective I had not considered.
Over the past week I have had countless conversations prompted by this article.
To remain neutral:
