Well, I had been sort of on the fence about this for the past 2-3 weeks or so. At first I wasn't quite sure how I felt about all the videos going around, but then started to hear information about all the money that has been raised due to this simple internet challenge. Regardless of how you feel about the challenge itself, how or where it got started, etc, you have to admit that a lot of money has been raised because of it. Money that might not have been raised if not for the crazy little challenge.

With that said, I was nominated by a friend of mine and my wife was nominated by his wife, so yesterday we decided to brave the icey cold bucket of water since it was such a hot day and we took the challenge. Not only did we both do the challenge, but we went onto the ALS website and made a donation. I also nominated a few of my friends who have already accept and will participate and donate as well.

If you would've asked me a few weeks ago if I would've dumped ice water on my head just to be part of (what looked like to me) an internet fad, I would've said no. But sometimes things change and you look at things with a new perspective. I would hope that if I were dealing with such an awful disease that needed research money to find a cure that people would jump on board and be just as excited to raise awareness and donate money like they have been about this.

Regardless of how you feel, this has to be a good thing.

Matt Ouimet and Richard Zimmerman take the challenge:

http://youtu.be/UK7EJYGAMgY

And an article on it:

http://www.ohio.com/blogs/airtime/airtime-1.489637/cedar-fair-ceo-takes-the-als-ice-bucket-challenge-to-a-new-height-1.517245

So much unawareness.

The Science Behind The Success Of The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge

http://www.forbes.com/sites/ricksmith/2014/09/01/the-science-behind-the-success-of-the-ice-bucket-challenge/

Ice Bucket Challenge Epic Fail

www.campusreform.org/?ID=5878

Not sure why that is a fail. More like a political statement. She did what she thought would get her message across.

An epic fail would be if she dropped the bucket on her head or something.

It's an epic fail because what she did distorts the reason behind it to begin with. It was meant to draw attention and raise funds for ALS, not making a political statement.

It would be like me attending a fund raising event for cancer only to make a speech about what's going on with Russia and the Ukraine.

It's extremely sad how people can turn something positive into something so cruel and antithetical. This is one of the most disturbing stories I have read in a long time.

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2014/09/05/special-needs-student-pranked-with-ice-bucket-holding-feces.html

Sometimes I just have to shake my head and wonder how in the world people even think up things like that. What they did is horrible, disgusting, and appalling.