When I was in the sixth grade I had to do a report about the effect that AIDS has on children and women. At the time the disease seemed so foreign to me. Fast forward ten years and I know more then a handful of people who are living with the disease or has died from it. It’s so important to educate ourselves as well as the children of this world. It’s a known fact that children and teenagers respond to music and video. That’s why the music video based social network IndieMV - Music+People has joined forces with UNICEF to sponsor a youth video contest that aims to raise awareness for AIDS. The contest on IndieMV.com gives contestants a chance to create their own video statements about the impact of AIDS for a chance to win great prizes such as iPods, Wii’s, gift certificates, a trip to Montreal to see the UNICEF concert on Nov. 28 featuring Avril Lavigne, Sarah McLachlan, Corneille, and Angelique Kidjo. Please check out the information below, visit the site, enter the contest, do anything that you can to support the cause.

IndieMV.com Launches and Partners With UNICEF for Upcoming, Star-Studded, ‘Unite Against AIDS’ Benefit Concert

Avril Lavigne, Sarah McLachlan and Others to Perform at UNICEF AIDS Benefit Concert as IndieMV Provides Music-Video Based Contests to Promote Awareness

View the rest of this entry…

I’ve blogged a few times about World Alzheimer’s Day and I really think I need to take my own advice. It’s such a great event and I want to do my part to help the Alzheimer’s Association. Sometimes I feel that my contribution is too small so I’ll talk myself out of doing something, but in this case I think every little bit really does help, you know. I think I’ll go ahead and make a small contribution online. I would love to donate to someone who already has a Purple Party or something set up, but I don’t know of anyone. At least I can donate on the website and have my donation matched.

If you haven’t heard by now, September 21st is World Alzheimer’s Day. I blogged a while back about the importance of this day and how all of you can help support the cause. I want to remind you guys that it’s really not too late to get involved. If you couldn’t participate in an Alzheimer’s march. How about hosting your very own Purple Party. A Purple Party is a socially responsible way to party for the cause while still helping to raise awareness for Alzheimer’s Day.

You can organize a dinner or gathering and invite all of your family and friends to attend. Charging a small door free or passing around a basket to collect donations is a great way to raise money. As an added incentive to collect money, all September donations will be match by the The Harrah’s Foundation. If you’d like to throw a Purple Party to benefit World Alzheimer’s Day you can register at actionalz.org and great your own page to share with your family and friends.

I also want to remind you guys that even if you can’t throw a Purple Party, you can still make a donation to the Alzheimer’s Association. Every donation will help in raising awareness for Alzheimer’s disease as well as helping to reach the goal of $1 million in donations.

Today is a really important day for a lot of people. If you’ve noticed a lot of people wearing all black today, it’s our way of showing our concern and support for the “Jena 6″. If you have no idea who the Jena 6 are, just Google it. At this point I can’t even begin to explain. Today tens of thousands of people are expected to head to Jena, Louisiana by plane, trains, buses and automobiles to protest the excessive criminal charges against six black teenagers involved in a racially motivated schoolyard brawl. A lot of black leaders and celebrities are expected to turn out for the demonstration and Senators/Presidential hopefuls Barack Obama, Hillary Rodham Clinton and John Edwards have all issued statements supporting the marchers and condemning Jena authorities for their tough prosecution of the six teenagers. If you’d like to know more about the demonstration or the Jena 6, please read this article from MSN or like I said, Google it.

Tonight is the Fashion Rocks concert! I’m really looking forward to it, because Alicia is going to perform a solo song as well as some other song with Carlos Santana. I’m not sure what that song will be because I’m just going off of pictures. Jennifer will also be there performing “Do It Well”. A lot of people are still hating on Jenn and that song, but I love it and her. I can’t wait to see her perform tonight. Of course she’ll be lip syncing, but I still love her. I’ve tried to sing her songs and do her dance routines and I get winded EARLY, so I don’t expect her to sing live. Actually, I’d prefer that she didn’t. I’ll blog later about the show. Unless I forget to watch. Hehe. Oh, BTW, here’s Jenn’s new video. It’s strange, but I love it.