(click here to download)

Here it is: the descent!

Thanks again to everyone who donated and everyone that will donate (CLICK HERE) to the Special Olympics of NY to provide differently abled athletes and their families with services, equipment, [...]]]> Thanks to Rob Madeo of Keyboard Krumbs for providing the camera and setup for this.

Here it is: the descent!

Thanks again to everyone who donated and everyone that will donate (CLICK HERE) to the Special Olympics of NY to provide differently abled athletes and their families with services, equipment, and events at no charge. Our team alone raised over $2100, which will make a ton of difference.

Again, on behalf of myself and especially the Special Olympics of New York, THANK YOU!

And here’s me on the wall looking evil:

I'm laughing at Meghan Mae, who is cursing me as this was being taken.

I’m at the Crowne Plaza for Over the Edge, and our first rappellers are about to go down! Here’s the view from the top:

I’m excited and nervous, but that’s neither here nor there.

The important thing is that you readers raised in excess of $2,000 for [...]]]> Hey everyone!

I’m at the Crowne Plaza for Over the Edge, and our first rappellers are about to go down! Here’s the view from the top:

I’m excited and nervous, but that’s neither here nor there.

The important thing is that you readers raised in excess of $2,000 for Special Olympics of NY. Dreams will be realized and self-esteems boosted due to your kindness. So on behalf of the Special Olympics of NY, thank you for your generosity.

And if you haven’t already, you still can still donate by visiting the website. A little bit makes all the difference in the world for the athletes and their families.

We (me and teammate Meghan Mae) go down at 3:30pm.

THE COMPLETE SCHEDULE

• 10am-3pm WGNA’s Kevin Richards –on site for a live remote
• 10:50am Erin Regazzo – Director of Marketing at the Times Union Center to rappel
• 11:00am Professional Boxers Vinny Maddalone, Shannon Miller and Mike Faragon along with Pugnacious Promotions owner Lisa Elovich to rappel
• 11am-1pm Tri-City Valley Cats Mascots
• 12pm-2pm WGNA’s Donation Request Lunch Hour
• 12:45-1:30 Capital Technical Rescue’s Special Ops Challenge with: APD Assistant Chief Brendan Cox, Army Nat’l Guard Sgt Scott Leslie, NYSID’s Frank Heuer
• 2:10pm Jeff Michaelson – Director of Catering at the Crowne Plaza to rappel
• 3:00pm Jared from Melville’s Mug to rappel– Melville’s will also sell tickets to throw water balloons at Jared while scaling the rock wall
• 3:35pm Times Union Blogger Kevin Marshall to rappel
• 5:50pm Tim Minahan – TD Bank VP to rappel
• 7:00pm After party begins at McGeary’s Irish Pub

I’ll be tweeting throughout the today! Follow @KevinMarshall to get updates throughout the day.

Join OTE on Facebook for updates

Also, congratulations to Laurel H. who won the $25 Target Gift Card!

I’ll be rappelling with teammate Meghan Mae at 3:35pm. I’ll also be there before and after providing services for the event as an Escort*. Ooo la la!

In addition to the rappeling during the [...]]]> This Friday is Over the Edge, an event to raise funds for the Special Olympics of NY.

I’ll be rappelling with teammate Meghan Mae at 3:35pm. I’ll also be there before and after providing services for the event as an Escort*. Ooo la la!

In addition to the rappeling during the day, we’ll be at the after-party at McGeary’s starting at 7:00pm. Bring a friend!

It’s not too late to give. Please give what you can – every little bit goes a long way towards helping the Special Olympics of NY. More info & to donate: CLICK HERE. All the incentives for giving listed on that page are still available until Thursday at midnight! (I still owe Courtney and Patrick portraits and Jason P. his promised video – all of which will come this week!)

* Meaning I literally escort people around the site, not the “everything but kissing” type of escort.

================================

Note: all info comes from the OTE organizers. For further info or if you have any inquiries, please visit their site

COVERAGE

• Listen live on 1057. CrushFM all morning
• FOX morning news: watch Stephanie Schelkun rappel!
• LookTV news: watch David Storey’s rappel!

SCHEDULE

• 9:00am First rappellers to arrive – t-shirts, photos and merchandise to go on sale
• 10:00am Rappellers start coming down
  WGNA’s Casey Danton to race 104.5 The Team and The Noe Show’s Brian Noe
• 10am-3pm WGNA’s Kevin Richards –on site for a live remote
• 10:50am Erin Regazzo – Director of Marketing at the Times *************Union Center to rappel
• 11:00am Professional Boxers Vinny Maddalone, Shannon Miller and Mike Faragon along with Pugnacious Promotions owner Lisa Elovich to rappel
• 11am-1pm Tri-City Valley Cats Mascots
• 12pm-2pm WGNA’s Donation Request Lunch Hour
• 12:45-1:30 Capital Technical Rescue’s Special Ops Challenge with:APD Assistant Chief Brendan Cox, Army Nat’l Guard Sgt Scott Leslie, NYSID’s Frank Heuer
• 2:10pm Jeff Michaelson – Director of Catering at the Crowne Plaza to rappel
• 3:00pm Jared from Melville’s Mug to rappel – Melville’s will also sell tickets to throw water balloons at Jared while scaling the rock wall
• 3:35pm Local sex symbol Kevin Marshall to rappel (note: they actually refer to me as “Times Union blogger” but I like my title better)
• 5:50pm Tim Minahan – TD Bank VP to rappel
• 7:00pm After party begins at McGeary’s Irish Pub

Over on the Places & Spaces blog (the TU’s Real Estate blog – why it’s not just called “Real Estate blog” or something else less vague is high above my pay grade which has plateaued [...]]]>

Stretching the definition of "charity": Colonie home's "Extreme Makeover" (left) and recently usurped MDA Telethon host Jerry Lewis.

Today I read two instances of entertainment in the guise of charity gone awry that deserve our notice.

Over on the Places & Spaces blog (the TU’s Real Estate blog – why it’s not just called “Real Estate blog” or something else less vague is high above my pay grade which has plateaued at $0/hour) , reporter Chris Churchill updated a story about a house that was constructed as part of the ABC feel-good reality television series “Extreme Makeover.” The two-floor home, which occupies 3,700 square feet and includes five bedrooms, has been sold for an undisclosed sum (pending contract approval). The listed asking price was slightly above $400,000. The original blog post is here. As with the vast majority of other Times Union blogs, your best bet is to avoid the comments section entirely unless you’re some kind of intellectual masochist hellbent on ruining your own day.

Mere minutes before I came across the blog post, writer and film critic Roger Ebert tweeted a link to a blog post from Jon Wiener of The Nation about how some Muscular Dystrophy advocates (as well as other areas of the disabled) are breathing a sigh of relief for the departure of Jerry Lewis from his famous MDA Labor Day Telethon. It’s quite a read, chock full of affirmation of Lewis’s mythic condescension: references to children with MDA as “God’s goof,” incredibly rude comments about reporters who ask about the ethics of promising funds going towards a cure that doesn’t exist rather than stating and promoting the true purpose of the telethon (to provide services & care), and the fact that many who have MDA take issue with being referred to as “Jerry’s Kids” since they’re competent adults and don’t care for the portrayal of all with the disease as hopeless miscreants who need to be saved by the aging comedian’s generosity.

The two stories share a commonality: good intentions gone awry.

Well, kind of.

Invariably, a funny thing happens whenever ego or profit gets involved with charity. It distorts what could be a wonderful thing and a boon to others and instead exploits the recipients or does only a temporary good for the whole of the cause. In the first instance, regardless of what frustrated Delmartians will spit from their keyboards, we have a program that takes people in dire financial and emotional circumstances and puts them into a house which, no matter what farcical measures are taken, in the long run simply aren’t sustainable given their finances and personal situations. In the case of Jerry Lewis you have a man who, yes, raised a lot of money for an organization, but did it with such brazen ego and condescension as to potentially do actual damage to the cause and people he was (in his own supremely dysfunctional way) trying to help. Now he’s been uprooted from the program and like Pyotr Petrovitch in Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment, has walked off in a huff noting the same black ingratitude Pyotr did for having his relentless commandments, demands, and poor attitude spurned by those who designed himself as saving, while promising to himself and others that either they’ll take him back or be sorry they parted ways.

It got me to thinking about the endeavor that myself and two friends, along with many others, are partaking in to raise money for the Special Olympics of NY. As a side note, our deadline has been extended – so please if you haven’t already, give a little to the cause! I’m fully aware and conscious of using my name, which isn’t “well known” but has an audience of anywhere from 4,000 to 6,000 unique readers a week if not more via this blog, to endorse or promote a charity. Some have leveled accusations of vanity against me for doing so, and though I counter with the idea that it’s all being done to raise funds, the same attitude and offenses could be applied towards me that I and many others have taken with Lewis over his antics during, before, and after the telethon in recent years.

Yet, still, I am conscious that a bit of it does rear its ugly head. It can’t help but seep through when you participate in a program like Over the Edge, which encourages local personalities to use their own notoriety (however small it may be such as in my case) to raise funds in a unique display of bombasticity. Yet, with this and all other charities I lend my name, voice, and words too, I promise you that I am forever conscious of the very real possibility that as human beings we are constantly tempted and swayed by our own inherent narcissism and self-interests. I want you all reading this to know that self-interest is not my intent in this or any other charities that I lend myself to. Not now, and not ever. Never has or will a demand or request be levied in exchange or as a qualification for my participation or support. Nor will there ever be expectations of such.

It needs to be said because, as in the examples cited above and others I’ve had dealings with first-hand, that is unfortunately not always the case despite our best interests and intentions.

Charity is more than just saying or giving support in some manner. It’s doing so without asking or expecting anything in return, ever. Not from the organizations, recipients, donors, fellow attendees, or anyone that would even be tangentially associated with it. It is always good practice, though, to at least ask yourself first what you’re giving to and what the motivations are for those who say they’re giving it or giving their time towards it. Because sometimes charity isn’t charity, but rather entertainment co-opting a cause to the detriment of the latter. Any good that comes of that is almost always, without fail, accidental. And temporary.

No idea where this originated, but it’s been floating around my Facebook feed over the last twelve hours. Note – according to reader Henri, it looks like it originated from Fark.com.

Other notes:

Today and tomorrow I’ll be highlighting my two teammates in this effort and what they’re offering in exchange for your donation. Yesterday was Meghan [...]]]> This week will be focused on helping our team meet its goal of raising $5,000 for the Special Olympics of NY as part of their “Over the Edge” fundraising event.

Today and tomorrow I’ll be highlighting my two teammates in this effort and what they’re offering in exchange for your donation. Yesterday was Meghan Mae, who is offering a variety of baked goods in exchange for your generosity. Today is local musician and ne’er-do-well Phil Nagle.

Also, you can get a song written about you for donating. More info below.

Phil (right) with Danny DeVito (left)

NAME: Philip Thomas Nagle
HOMETOWN: Scotia, NY
CURRENTLY RESIDING: Scotia, NY
WHAT DO YOU DO? Attempting to become incredibly famous
FEAR OF HEIGHTS ON A SCALE OF 1 to 10: 8.5
WHY ARE YOU RAPPELING? : This is such an amazing cause, and its an incredibly opportunity for a amateur thrill seeker like me!
ANYTHING ELSE YOU WANT TO SAY: I am moving to LA 2 weeks after this thing! Help me leave with a bang!!

Phil, a musician, is making a variety of fun offers in exchange for your donation. Again, from the man himself:

• $10 or less: I will mail you a package including a letter and numerous extras, such as stickers, pins, drawings, fun things! The more you donate, the more you get!
• More than $10: I will write you a poem about how beautiful you are, and hand draw a full color representation.
• $25 or more: I will WRITE A SONG ABOUT ANY TOPIC YOU CHOOSE IN ANY GENRE YOU CHOOSE. Add $20 to one of the above two and I’ll make a theatrical video version.
• $50 or more: I’ll make an EP (5 songs) dedicated to any genre/topic you choose, with a hand made cover. -OR – I will make you a piece of art of any topic you choose. It will be brilliant and one day worth millions as I plan on becoming incredibly famous. :)
• $75 or more: I’ll make you a DVD of all the short films I have ever made, and will write you a song for the DVD menu screen. Please note, this is embarrassing for me!
• $100 or more: NAME YOUR OWN! If it is within reason, i’ll do it. Also, drum lessons, guitar lessons are available upon request.
• For a decent sum of money I will recreate 5 minutes of ANY film you choose.

To donate to Phil, CLICK HERE.

——-

Over the Edge is an event where individuals raise money to rappel down the 18-story Crowne Plaza Hotel in downtown Albany. For more information, visit Team Kevin Marshall’s America’s homepage on KevinMarshallOnline.com.

They’re crude, but endearing.

So far the portraits alone have raised over $100! Here are some more I’ve done recently:

Nathaniel:

Sean:

There’s an ointment of that.

But the real news is that I went to the front page of the Times Union for news and…well, actually got it. No SEEN gallery or any of that other chicanery, which has its place but should never be front and center the [...]]]> “The blowup of Stubby Clapp“

There’s an ointment of that.

But the real news is that I went to the front page of the Times Union for news and…well, actually got it. No SEEN gallery or any of that other chicanery, which has its place but should never be front and center the first thing you see.

Now, Stubby Clapp? That suits me just fine.

——-

Myself and two others on my team are looking to rappel off the Crowne Plaza Hotel in support of the Special Olympics of New York! Have you donated yet to our cause? Your donation can get you baked goods, a portrait drawn by yours truly, and much more. Plus, you’re automatically entered to win a $25 Target gift card! Give a little, get a little. Click here for more info.

Yesterday I was out on a morning run (I actually did two days in a row; someone get Rex Smith on the horn and tell him we need an evening edition printed) when I was flagged down by someone that [...]]]> One thing I’m always struck by is the generosity of friends, acquaintances, and outright strangers.

Yesterday I was out on a morning run (I actually did two days in a row; someone get Rex Smith on the horn and tell him we need an evening edition printed) when I was flagged down by someone that lived around the corner from me. He mentioned that he had talked to my next door neighbor and found out that my bike had been stolen off my porch two weeks ago. This man, whose only association with me is that his wife also works for RPI (but doesn’t work in the same part of campus as me let alone with me), said that he had a couple bikes and offered me one of them on the spot.

I was legitimately taken aback by the offer.

What’s more, I had to politely decline because my roommate had already given me one that he had: a bike that he and/or someone in his family easily could have sold for some decent change. Instead, without a thought, they offered it to me.

A month ago, someone ripped my bicycle off the railings of our front porch and carried it off with them. In the time since, through word of mouth, I have had nothing but offers of replacements that have reinforced a belief and outlook I’ve adopted in the last five years: that for every person that would deprive you of happiness, there are tenfold more that would step in to try to help in some manner.

One Christmas, before I was born, the presents my parents bought for their children were stolen out of their car. Then, in a scene ripped out of the cheesiest ABC Family made for television Christmas movie, friends and strangers that lived with us in the projects (a place called Griswold Heights) came together and surprised my parents with replacement gifts for all their kids.

Instances of generosity and kindness far outnumber those of selfishness. Unfortunately, it’s the latter that hits us the hardest. But if we allow ourselves to appreciate the other moments and give them equal weight and consideration, we’ll be surprised at how much good there really is in this world.

I’m seeing it, too, in the outpouring of support that all you readers have shown for Special Olympics of New York through my fundraising efforts for the Over the Edge event. I thank all who have given and all that will give in the coming weeks. If you haven’t yet, check out the page I put together: it explains what we’re doing, has a list of incentives for giving, and more. Even as little as $5 or $10 goes a long way towards providing services for the more than 47,000 differently abled athletes and their families.

So to Jackie’s husband, to my roommate, to my friends, to those folks in Griswold Heights (some of whom are no longer with us), and to all of you reading: on behalf of the human race, thank you for making us all a little richer.