by Ron Bieber on Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Wow, look at all the sponsors Walla-Pa-Looza has this year!
It was a short year ago that the idea for Walla-Pa-Looza was born out of the need of one guy to do what he does best and throw a party to make a difference.
This Saturday, July 31, 2010 the second annual Walla-Pa-Looza Music Festival is happening at the Johnsburg Community Club in Johnsburg, Illinois.
This year the organization has had a big year – starting their blog, partnering with the Sage Cancer Center, getting their 501(c)(3) non-profit designation, and a slew of new sponsors that you can see in the image above. They have a great lineup of bands, including Cover Blondz, High Life, Aeth3r, and the premier Journey tribute band of the Midwest, Infinity.
They’ve also put together a High School Battle of the Bands, which makes us all feel young again, doesn’t it?
I’d love to see all of my friends there. Let’s face it, I don’t blog much anymore – so the fact that I am actually writing anything means this has to be a special event.
If you can’t show up at the event, you can always donate to Walla-Pa-Looza by going to their web site and clicking on the donate button.
I’m sure you will feel good knowing that you made a difference for some family that needs help.
by Ron Bieber on Saturday, February 6, 2010
Jonna and I eat at the same place every Friday. It’s this cute little Mexican restaurant called Mixteca Tequila Bar and Grill on Route 47 in Woodstock. Mixteca has excellent food and is owned by a couple of really cool people, Claudia and Mike.
As is usual being a chronic handwasher, at the end of dinner I went into the washroom to wash my hands after eating and out of the corner of my eye saw a flyer on the inside bathroom door. It was about a family that the restaurant was doing a fundraiser for.
The Gruber family consists of Joe, Laura and their 2 kids, Joey (6) and Courtney (3). In November of 2009 Joe was diagnosed with testicular cancer and has been receiving treatment. At the time he was working two jobs, neither of which provided benefits.
The restaurant is hosting a fund-raiser for the family to help offset their medical costs as Joe goes through treatment, as well as help them with their mounting bills. The fund-raiser is happening on February 21, 2010 at the restaurant (see link). You can find more information on the family and the fundraiser by from the flyer I scanned when we got home, or at the web site for the event, hosted by the Friends Helping Friends Foundation.
All food proceeds at this event will go to the family.
Jonna and I will definitely be attending and hope that our friends in the area will come and try to help out. If nothing else, you get great food and a good atmosphere to enjoy the afternoon in. The plan is to also have raffles – and the folks throwing the event are looking for donations of items such as gift baskets, sporting event tickets, etc for these activities.
If your not in the area and want to help, you can make donations via PayPal on the Friends Helping Friends web site.
by Ron Bieber on Monday, September 21, 2009
I found this article late last night (I’m not totally sure how I even landed there) and was riveted by it for way too long. This is a rough draft of a project started by Susan Atkins (of Manson Family fame) and her husband, attempting to explain what really happened leading up to the Tate-LaBianca murders – that while Helter Skelter was used as a motive to finally convict Manson and his family members, it was really just one in a long line of manipulation techniques that he used to get people to do what he wanted.
Historically, Manson has been looked at as this mind controlling genius that somehow got a bunch of kids to attempt to enact his ‘end of the world’ scenario – one that he truly believed. This extremely well written article shows Manson for what he really was: a paranoid, self-centered, sociopathic, master manipulator, who after shooting a man who he thought was a Black Panther manipulated those around him to enact murders that he thought would throw the Black Panthers off his trail and keep them from coming after him – in other words, he was trying to save himself by sacrificing those around him.
Most interestingly, this write up explains many things that have confused people for years – including why the Tate-LaBianca murders seemed so “random”. This article is the first explanation of the reasoning behind the randomness of the acts that actually makes sense, as well as explaining some of the things Manson did in order to gain control over his followers.
This is the most rational, thought out explanation of Manson that I have ever read, coming from someone who had an intimate role in some of the most horrific and publicized murders of all time. Hopefully, it helps take away some of the mystique and fascination that some young people still have for him today.
The Myth of Helter Skelter, by Susan Atkins.
Susan Atkins is suffering from terminal brain cancer and was recently denied parole after submitting a request for “compassionate release” due to her illness.
Update September 25, 2009
Susan Atkins has died at the age of 61.
