ALS Ice Bucket Challenge

[Spiesy]

Also, I "get" the meme's insinuating that it's a very first-world undertaking, but I also think that creates a false dichotomy. It's possible to give a **** (and some cash) about MND and drought/famine ravaged parts of Africa simultaneously.

It's a joke, my good man.

Anything done for the betterment of others gets a double thumbs-up from me.

 

[philmud]

It's a joke, my good man.

Anything done for the betterment of others gets a double thumbs-up from me.

Oh yeah, I realise they're not necessarily suggesting people shouldn't donate. Just an observation that one cause doesn't have to be pitted against another.

 

[TimT]

Honestly I should have just poured a bunch of shampoo on my head before tipping the bucket of ice water over, and got two jobs done at once.

Normally I don't like to get involved in these sort of memes because I don't want to be the 'look at me, I'm so virtuous!' sort of person. In this case I think it's worthwhile making an exception because MND is so little known - so there's an obvious value in drawing attention to the cause.

 

[_HOME_BREW_WALLACE_]

Here is my Vid from yesterday:
http://youtu.be/oUBLdAvbyy8

 

[JDW81]

Here is my Vid from yesterday:

They weren't 2 tins of 4X you pulled out of the bucket were they?

You'd raise some money on here if you put a vid on youtube of you drinking those suckers down.

 

[_HOME_BREW_WALLACE_]

They weren't 2 tins of 4X you pulled out of the bucket were they?

Haha Yeah they were. Left over from a father in law visit. Thought it added a bit of humour to the vid.

 

[Florian]

This is Cem Özdemir, co-chairman of the greens in Germany, doing the ice bucket challenge on the roof terrace of his apartment in Berlin.
Take note of the pot plant next to him...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REOA3xXR8tI

 

[manticle]

I can't get my head around this concept. I'm really glad it's worked and raised money for research (close family friend was a sufferer and victim) but the nature of the challenge itself makes me scratch my head at the people that inhabit the same world as me. Probably says more about me than it does about them, although I hope most people are standing next to a veggie garden or similar when they tip 10L of water out.

 

[Blind Dog]

Can't say i see the point either. but then i thought facebook would be a passing fad so what the heck do I know?

Anyway, this is funny (if somehow sad as well)

WARNING - may not be suitable for some workplaces / kids around etc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmE1ZUtoAhM

 

[TimT]

Bit of fun, I think Manticle, that took off perhaps because MND is a relatively little known disease that nevertheless affects a lot of people, directly and indirectly. A publicity gimmick just happened to find a worthwhile cause and went viral.

Here's my sister-in-law's interview on Channel Nine about all this ice-bucketing.

 

[manticle]

It's the viral nature that I don't get but I haven't got any craze since yo-yos were big in the 80s.

 

[davedoran]

Roddy Doyles take on the ice bucket challenge.
Paddys or anyone whos spent time in dublin should appreciate it


Roddy Doyle


-You’re lookin’ a bit pale.
-The fuckin’ ice bucket challenge.
-Wha’?
-One o’ the grandkids challenges me. Grand. So I go out the back an’ wait for me drenchin’. But yeh know those freezer bags for ice cubes?
-Yeah – .
-They drop six o’ those – rock fuckin’ solid, like – from an upstairs window. Right onto me fuckin’ head. I’m out cold.
-Jaysis – .
-They get me into the van, straight up to Beaumont. I wake up when they knock me head off the path outside o’ A+E. An’ inside! It’s the fuckin’ Alamo. Full of ice bucket casualties. There’s a **** with his head stuck in a bucket. There’s seventeen women who’ve had heart attacks. There’s a kid who’s allergic to water – the fuckin’ state of him. There’s a lad who’s attempted suicide cos no one’s challenged him an’ he feels left ou’.
-Fuckin’ hell.
-So, I’m sittin’ there – groggy, like. An’ this sham asks if he can go ahead o’ me. He’s after cuttin’ four of his fingers off. He holds up a Spar bag – full o’ fingers, like. I ask him did he do it for charity, he says No, so I tell him to **** off.

 

[GalBrew]

I don't really get it either, I am always iffy when people feel the need to video themselves and post it to social media. I can also tell you as someone who used to research ALS that it is so far off having anything even remotely useful as a treatment that we will need to be dumping ice water over our heads for a long time to get the cash needed to make an impact (especially in the current funding climate).......(sorry to be a party pooper). I guess it's good that more than 7 people now know what ALS, but a 'cure' is a loooooooooooooong way off. There just aren't enough people with the condition to generate a critical mass of research.

 

[TimT]

Funds also go to helping families cope with the loss of loved ones, sourcing counsellors, etc, and providing items such as wheelchairs and other equipment for people who are experiencing some form of MND. The Australian MND association gives donors a choice of where their money will go to.

One site (MND NZ) describes MND as an "uncommon, but by no means rare disease". Hair splitting over the difference of "uncommon" and "rare" aside, it does have a publicity problem, though not because of its rarity. Compare MND to MS....

"Each day in Australia two people are diagnosed with MND"

and

"Approximately 1,000 Australians are diagnosed with MS every year."

So that's about 720 Australians diagnosed with MND every year, and about 1000 diagnosed with MS. The difference is not so huge. But MS Readathon would have to be one of the best known charities around, whereas, say, the Walk to D'Feet MND has nowhere near the same profile. Why? Perhaps because people with MND tend to die much quicker than those with MS.

 

[GalBrew]

Yes, one diagnosed with ALS/MND you have on average about 3 years so not a good outcome and by no means am I diminishing the good work done by the charities mentioned. However, instead of dumping ice water on each other perhaps a better course of action would be the whole community informing their local members of the importance of medical research in general and that they will not tolerate cuts etc. to the system. Make it an election issue and give it the attention it deserves rather than resorting to viral 'slacktivism' and bandwagon humping. Just my 2c, these things tend to annoy me as no one knows how shit the medical research 'industry' is in this country. We are always told it is world class, and while some world class work is done the industry as a whole is not.

 

[TimT]

Yes, point taken. Ice bucketing is pretty much a once-off thing, I think, though I bet MND Australia will be looking at how they can increase the awareness gained from this viral gimmick.

 

[GuyQLD]

You can't really blame the charities though, not that i think anyone here is. Viral marketing and social media go hand in hand. It's like those idiotic coffee cups that donate a dollar to charity if you scan the QR code, or that hashtag bullshit meal for a meal thing. The idea of "easy" charity completely offends me on one hand, but by the same token if it helps make a positive difference more power to them.

They didn't invent this idiocy, but I'd rather they profit from it than Coca-Cola

 

[_HOME_BREW_WALLACE_]

Dunno whats the big deal really! I poured a bucket of iced water on my head and gave $100 to a good cause. it comes down to a bit of good fun. Alot of good has come out of it. I say dont be a fucken pussy, Either pour a bucket of iced water over your head, Give to a deserving charity, Do both or be a ******* prude and do neither and hope MND doesnt happen to you!

 

[manticle]

No-one said it was a big deal - just not quite getting it (the craze bit, not the charity bit). No issues with you or anyone else doing it should you wish to.

 

[Donske]

You can't really blame the charities though, not that i think anyone here is. Viral marketing and social media go hand in hand. It's like those idiotic coffee cups that donate a dollar to charity if you scan the QR code, or that hashtag bullshit meal for a meal thing. The idea of "easy" charity completely offends me on one hand, but by the same token if it helps make a positive difference more power to them.

They didn't invent this idiocy, but I'd rather they profit from it than Coca-Cola

Your sentence in bold rings true for me, it's something I'm a bit conflicted on personally, the other thing about the whole viral activism thing is that there never seems to be any follow through on the part of the participants, this MND thing is a prime example in waiting, the relevant charities will get a short term growth in donations but I guarantee in 2 to 6 months the cause is forgotten about and replaced with the latest in a never ending stream of humanitarian outrages and moral injustices that's spread over social media.

The whole thing rings false to me but is getting much needed funding to medical research...

Is it still a charitable deed if it was done for selfish reasons (in this case being seen to be as cool as the thousands of other people who jumped on the bandwagon)?



**** I'm getting cynical as I get older, 10 years ago I would have just jumped on the bandwagon and had a laugh about the absurdity of the whole thing.