07/14/2004 22:21 -0500 GMT

AIDS on the Airwaves

I haven't written in a while, but I have some ideas churning away in the furnace upstairs; I think it is time to put some of them down and see what coalesces from the stream of consciousness.

On the lighter side, I won a small radio contest one morning this week. 107.7 "the X" has a contest wherein the first caller of the morning can name a subject, the DJs then ask a question, and if the caller gets the question right, then they win modest prizes. Remarkably, in this small-city, Birmingham market, I have gotten through as first caller or alternate nearly every time I have tried. That is I have participated in the contest 3 or 4 times, and been the alternate once or twice. I've never hit a busy signal. (The fact that this first caller contest normally happens at about 6:07 a.m., and that I programmed my phone with the number, and that I  programmed my brain such that when the DJ says, "light 'em up right now at 741-1077 or 1-888-"...etc., in a conditioned response that would make Pavlov slobber in admiration, I hit the send button, speaks not only to the obsessive side of my character, but also to the...well, no it really just speaks to the obsessive side of my character, doesn't it?)

In previous efforts, the subjects I requested were Chess and M*A*S*H. This time I got through and asked for, in honor of the International AIDS Society conference currently ongoing in Bangkok, the topic of HIV. At first the DJ responded with, "Aren't we happy today?" But I just said, you know, just trying to raise a little awareness, and it's all good, you know. The DJs soon were down with it, even though they usually don't do political topics so early in the morning. We talked briefly about the Birmingham AIDS Outreach Walk that happened last year. One of the DJs had participated, with her dog. The question, finally, was anti-climactic.

"What does HIV stand for?"

"Human Immunodeficiency Virus"

My prize was, or will be, if I get around to the studio to pick it up, a $10 gift certificate for Hooters, which I will give away, and a complete set of Land of the Lost DVDs. God only knows what that's all about. Anybody want 'em? I'll trade 'em for some awareness out there on the airwaves...