Huge thanks to Rob Spears and his friends and family for these informative and inspirational videos. Rob passed away in 2009 but left behind this series of videos in hopes of helping others understand the impact that ALS can have on those diagnosed with the disease. We here at Often Awesome know how special a person it takes to be willing to share these experiences. Thanks Rob!

Please check out Rob’s Youtube Channel here.

Rock Out ALS is a Campaign to unite the Rock Music Industry to raise awareness of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), which is better known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. Started in Seattle in Sept. of 2009, Rock Out ALS was only going to be an annual all day show. Quickly, a Campaign to raise awareness using Rock to garner attention was begun.

Here’s a couple of their upcoming shows:

For more information on their upcoming events, you can check the following links:
Rock Out ALS on Facebook.
Rock Out ALS on Myspace.

As Wreck continues our policy of adding a charitable aspect to all our events, Wreck MMA will return to the Robert Guertin Arena to help a member of the Ottawa community. Brian Dyck was diagnosed Lou Gehrig’s Disease in October 2009. Brian has not only served his country in the Canadian forces but is currently an Ottawa police officer. His life has been devoted to helping others including his wife Natalie and their one year old daughter Sophi. It is no secret, Brian will leave us – and his family will need our help! Wreck MMA will donate up to $50,000 to Brian and his family, but we cannot do this without your help! We are calling for the members of the MMA community and the Ottawa/Gatineau region to all come together to help a family that needs us. Let’s all unite; for Brian’s fight.

Full article can be found here.

Find them on Facebook here.

Wreck MMA Official Site.

Dr. Jon LaPook Looks At Advances In Stem Cell Research
Reporter: CBS News

Diseases can now be studied outside the body – in a petrie dish. For example, researchers have taken skin from patients with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease), turned them into stem cells, then turned the stem cells into the kind of nerve cells (motor neurons) damaged in the disease. Now – for the first time – they can study living nerves from somebody with ALS and see how they differ from normal nerves.

Full article can be found here.

Two filmmakers are chronicling Tim’s journey in a web series; it’s called Often Awesome. There are six episodes online right now, and another is posted every two weeks.

The article can be found on digtriad.com here.

Letters of Note is a great website that gathers and sorts fascinating letters, postcards, telegrams, faxes, and memos and posts them online to share with the world.

Bess Bell Neely was a multiple sclerosis sufferer and reached out to the “Iron Horse” hoping for some type of help. Here is the letter that Lou Gehrig sent in response.

If you have a hard time reading the letter you can read the transcript here.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010
8:00 p.m.
Tickets $7.50, additional donations graciously accepted

a/perture cinema
311 W. Fourth Street
Winston-Salem, NC
722-8148 or aperturecinema.com

Q&A to follow

Official website can be found here.

For you Itunes people out there, you can now find all of our episodes here.

New York Magazine article on political writer, Tony Judt, who is 2 years into his battle with ALS.

(Photo: Marco Grob)

“The meaning of our life,” Judt continues, “is only incorporated in the way other people feel about us. Once I die, my life will acquire meaning in the way they see whatever it is I did, for them, for the world, the people I’ve known. I have no control of that. All I can do is do the best, now.”

The article can be found here.

“Art is a tool of empowerment and social change, and I consider myself blessed to be able to create and use my work to promote health reform, bring awareness about ALS and help others.”
– Tony Quan, aka Tempt One

The EyeWriter project is an ongoing collaborative research effort to empower people who are suffering from ALS with creative technologies. More information on this project can be found here.