Today was the 2011 Concert for Life, the event that all of this money-raisin’ and charity-doin’ was leading up to since I first announced a pledge drive back in June. In honor of a student from Warren Township High School in Gurnee, IL, who passed away from cancer in 2002, this annual event seeks to raise awareness and bring in money for the American Cancer Society.
Since then, thanks to the donations of many wonderful readers, Antagony & Ecstasy was able to raise a whopping $1180, more than eleven times the target donation of $100 per contributor to the Carry On Campaign. Thanks to the mercenary bitches at PayPal, only $1136.52 of that made it to the ACS, but that ain’t hay, and I am so very proud of our contribution to what is, so far, more than $41,000 raised for just a single one-day event.
More information about this year’s event can be found at the website of Matt Wessel, the Milwaukee musician whose original work has been the centerpiece of the concert since it was started. My thanks to Matt for giving me the opportunity to be a part of this most excellent project.
In the meantime, I’m working as hard as I can to finish up the last few review requests I have outstanding – six, plus some special pieces that are going to take more effort – but I want to assure anyone who contributed that I have certainly not forgotten. Below, with my humblest and most sincere thanks, the complete list of everyone who contributed to my campaign drive in the last nine months, with links to the reviews some of you requested. (NB: if you donated the minimum $15, and did not request a review at the time, it’s not too late! Just e-mail me, and let me know what you want to see).
Adam Bertocci, Bronxville, NY
–Requested Ghostbusters
Vianney Boncorps, Los Altos, CA
–Requested Cyrano de Bergerac (1990)
–Requested The Village of Shadows
Jessica Brown, Evanston, IL
–Requested Session 9
Dayna Christensen, Boise, ID
–Requested “a bad horror film from the ’00s”
Mark Clemens, Boise, ID
–Requested A Hard Day’s Night
Nick Davis, Chicago, IL
–Requested Possession (1981)
Stephen Deline, Los Angeles, CA
Jason Dolha, Calgary, AB
–Requested Repulsion
Mike Gibson, Alexandria, VA
–Requested American Beauty
Robert Hamer, Vallejo, CA
–Requested The Right Stuff
Matthew Henderson, Glasgow, Scotland
–Requested a Terrence Malick retrospective
John & Katherine Hewitt, Laurel, MD
Joshua Hime, Los Angeles, CA
–Requested The Hottie & the Nottie
Rachael Horcher, Indianapolis, IN
–Requested the Back to the Future trilogy
JPK, Olympia, WA
–Requested Fearless (1993)
Robert Karol, Chicago, IL
–Requested “Top 10 B-Movie Stars”
Patrick King, Chicago, IL
–Requested An American Carol
Paul & Erica Kolodziej, Chicago, IL
Mark Kreutzer, Chicago, IL
–Requested Married to the Mob
Rebecca Langer, Saskatoon, SK
Trevor Laughlin, New Westminster, BC
Tess LeBlanc, North Vancouver, BC
–Requested Magnolia
Marc Lummis, Astoria, NY
–Requested Clueless
Jay Marks, Ossining, NY
–Requested Jeepers Creepers & Jeepers Creepers 2
Barbara Miller, Dallas, TX
Nathan Morrow, Hanoi, Vietnam
–Requested South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut
Geoffrey Moses, Williamsport, PA
–Requested To Live and Die in L.A.
Robert Niven, Winter Park, FL
–Requested “Top 10 Documentaries”
Kevin Olson, Salem, OR
–Requested StageFright: Aquarius
Troy Olson, Salem, OR
–Requested Invasion U.S.A.
Daniel Peach, Bowling Green, KY
Rebecca Safier, Los Angeles, CA
Ray Schmit, Downer’s Grove, IL
–Requested The Sandlot
Clarence & Hilary Schnadt, Hainesville, IL
Ellen Shapiro, Los Angeles, CA
–Requested The Great Escape
Cameron Shaw, San Francisco, CA
–Requested Top Gun
Stephen Swartz, Madison, WI
–Requested The Descent 2
Zev Valancy, Chicago, IL
Benjamin Verschoor, McCall, ID
–Requested Alien³
Jonathan Volk, Chicago, IL
–Requested Trash Humpers
Chris Walters, Brooklyn, NY
–Requested Babette’s Feast
Patrice Wessel-Elacqua, Redwood City, CA
Justin Wiemer, Fox Point, WI
–Requested Ordinary People
Phillip Wiese, Chicago, IL
Kara Wild, San Jose, CA
–Requested Anastasia (1997)
–Also requested The Prince of Egypt
Bryce Wilson, San Luis Obispo, CA
–The Career of Charles B. Pierce