Get Up, Stand Up

An aside, before I begin: When Peter was about three, his favorite song was Bob Marley's "Get Up, Stand Up." He'd sit on the floor for the verses, and then when Marley got to "Get up, stand up," Peter would dutifully stand up. Then he'd sit back down and wait for the instructions again. And that's about as good a story as any to describe Peter.


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Anyway, the point of this entry is to alert you to Friday night's Stand Up to Cancer extravaganza. All Big Three networks are going to simultaneously run a kind of telethon, raising money for (and awareness of) cancer research.


From what I've read, the Stand Up people are taking a new approach and new attitude toward cancer -- it's not the Scary Word Death Sentence that it always has been in the past. The show will feature many big names in entertainment. YouTube already has a bunch of videos from Stand Up that show the kind of funny, irreverent approach they're taking to this. Henry Winkler, once known as The Fonz himself, appears in this video and this video as a very pesky, annoying character named Cancer. There's also a very funny video from cast members of The Daily Show. It wouldn't be appropriate for me to link to it in a family-oriented blog like this one, but if you search YouTube for Daily Show Cancer, you'll find it easily enough. It's one of my favorites.


SU2C's whole approach, particularly the humor and irreverence, is to make cancer something that doesn't get whispered about. (If you've been reading the blog, you obviously know that I appreciate such an approach.) That kind of hushed awe about cancer isn't good for patients, their families, or anyone who's trying to fight it.


So watch, or set your Tivo, for Friday night at 8:00pm. Give if you can, or just watch and help raise awareness.