World Aids Day
Photo: Dr. Marty St. Clair.The first news item I saw today was that Evel Knievel has died, age 69. When I was a boy we often heard of him and his crazy motor cycle stunts. He always lived on the edge and despite many illnesses in the past few years, his son said that he “willed another five or six years out of life”. It was one of those names I heard a lot while I was growing up, along with Eddie Kidd. Both men sustained many serious injuries during their careers. Eddie Kidd is confined to a wheelchair today but is quite active and riding around on a quad bike. He seems to have a zest for life which, quite ironically, appears to be a prerequisite for defying death so eagerly and so often.
Today marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the release of Thriller by Michael Jackson. I was in fifth year at secondary school and, as I avidly followed both the singles and albums charts every week, remember the album charting at number 14 and then falling away. The only single at that point had been The Girl is Mine, and if that hadn’t been a duet with Paul McCartney, it wouldn’t have been a hit at all. In my opinion, it’s the weakest song on the album and it didn’t get people running out to buy the LP. But when Billie Jean hit the charts a couple of months later, the whole world went wild over this record and, as we all know, it is the best selling album of all time. The usually accepted estimate of sales is “over 40,000,000” although some people say that as many as a hundred million have been sold, which is unlikely. In those days I was a heavy metal fan and Kiss were my favourite band. But Thriller got me out of that rut (today I see it as a rut that limited me a lot) and I started listening to other music. I even bought the Thriller videotape. The album was fantastic and still sounds good today. In February they’re bringing out another special edition with extra tracks and all that. Now that people are into downloading individual songs, there will probably never be so much enthusiasm for one album. In fact, albums as such will probably cease to exist soon. Anyway, Michael Jackson was the phenomenon of the eighties and early nineties. Bad also sold by the truckload, and Dangerous took him right into the CD age. His career has dropped off since then and been clouded by other issues, but there is no doubt that this guy knew how to put out a good record.
In England today a truck carrying beer crashed and scattered cans all over the M6 in Cumbria. I would be filling my bag with them!
Today is World Aids Day, the twentieth such day, and there are all sorts of events. I’ve been reading about Dr. Marty St. Clair, who was the woman who discovered AZT, the first drug to treat the disease (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7117651.stm). Interesting reading. Today AIDS doesn’t seem to be such a big threat. They say that only 33,000,000 people have it. I say ‘only’ because without the sensible campaigns to limit the spread hundreds of millions would have got it. The British were the first to put a straightforward campaign out there. The Americans languished behind due to religious disputes and politicians who preached the unrealistic line of abstinence. Here in Brazil the campaign got under way very slowly but now appears to be a bit more effective. But experts warn that because of the drugs to slow down the advance of the disease and ease its symptoms, people are becoming complacent. AIDS was first detected in 1981. Rock Hudson was the first famous victim in 1985. Freddie Mercury died of it in 1991.
Tomorrow is the last round of the Brazilian League. Grêmio technically have a chance at the Libertadores but… Corinthians, Paraná and Goiás all face relegation. Only one will escape. São Paulo was the runaway champion and Juventude and América RN are already relegated. Paraná travel to Rio to face Vasco, Corinthians play against Grêmio in Porto Alegre and Goiás, who lost their coach yesterday, play Internacional at home. Paraná need to beat Vasco and hope for the other two to draw or lose. If either Goiás or Corinthians wins, then it’s welcome to Division 2 for Paraná Clube.
Today marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the release of Thriller by Michael Jackson. I was in fifth year at secondary school and, as I avidly followed both the singles and albums charts every week, remember the album charting at number 14 and then falling away. The only single at that point had been The Girl is Mine, and if that hadn’t been a duet with Paul McCartney, it wouldn’t have been a hit at all. In my opinion, it’s the weakest song on the album and it didn’t get people running out to buy the LP. But when Billie Jean hit the charts a couple of months later, the whole world went wild over this record and, as we all know, it is the best selling album of all time. The usually accepted estimate of sales is “over 40,000,000” although some people say that as many as a hundred million have been sold, which is unlikely. In those days I was a heavy metal fan and Kiss were my favourite band. But Thriller got me out of that rut (today I see it as a rut that limited me a lot) and I started listening to other music. I even bought the Thriller videotape. The album was fantastic and still sounds good today. In February they’re bringing out another special edition with extra tracks and all that. Now that people are into downloading individual songs, there will probably never be so much enthusiasm for one album. In fact, albums as such will probably cease to exist soon. Anyway, Michael Jackson was the phenomenon of the eighties and early nineties. Bad also sold by the truckload, and Dangerous took him right into the CD age. His career has dropped off since then and been clouded by other issues, but there is no doubt that this guy knew how to put out a good record.
In England today a truck carrying beer crashed and scattered cans all over the M6 in Cumbria. I would be filling my bag with them!
Today is World Aids Day, the twentieth such day, and there are all sorts of events. I’ve been reading about Dr. Marty St. Clair, who was the woman who discovered AZT, the first drug to treat the disease (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7117651.stm). Interesting reading. Today AIDS doesn’t seem to be such a big threat. They say that only 33,000,000 people have it. I say ‘only’ because without the sensible campaigns to limit the spread hundreds of millions would have got it. The British were the first to put a straightforward campaign out there. The Americans languished behind due to religious disputes and politicians who preached the unrealistic line of abstinence. Here in Brazil the campaign got under way very slowly but now appears to be a bit more effective. But experts warn that because of the drugs to slow down the advance of the disease and ease its symptoms, people are becoming complacent. AIDS was first detected in 1981. Rock Hudson was the first famous victim in 1985. Freddie Mercury died of it in 1991.
Tomorrow is the last round of the Brazilian League. Grêmio technically have a chance at the Libertadores but… Corinthians, Paraná and Goiás all face relegation. Only one will escape. São Paulo was the runaway champion and Juventude and América RN are already relegated. Paraná travel to Rio to face Vasco, Corinthians play against Grêmio in Porto Alegre and Goiás, who lost their coach yesterday, play Internacional at home. Paraná need to beat Vasco and hope for the other two to draw or lose. If either Goiás or Corinthians wins, then it’s welcome to Division 2 for Paraná Clube.
Diary Time: Lots of Monopoly. Bruna even took it home with her last night. Yesterday went out with M and then off for a sauna and then to Tibério’s for drinks in the evening. Watched some Seinfeld Season 9 and went to bed. Lazy Saturday.
posted by Robert Stewart @ 9:40 AM
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