Sunday, November 1, marked the beginning of Movember 2009. What is Movember? Here’s a quick description from their site:

Movember is an annual, month-long celebration of the moustache, highlighting men’s health issues – specifically prostate and testicular cancer.

The idea for Movember was sparked in 2003 over a few beers in Melbourne, Australia.  The guys behind it joked about 80s fashion and decided it was time to bring the moustache back.  In order to justify their Mos (Australian slang for moustache), they used their new looks to raise money for prostate cancer research… never dreaming that facial hair would ultimately lead to a global movement that would get men talking about a taboo subject – their health.

A Mo Bro starts Movember – the month formerly known as November – clean shaven, and grows a moustache all month long, garnering support from friends and family in the form of donations.  What’s more, a Mo Bro is a walking billboard for the cause as his new look opens the door for him to talk about cancers affecting men – making the moustache a symbol, much like the pink ribbon is for breast cancer.  Each Movember culminates in a Gala Partè in major cities around the globe where Mo Bros dress up to match their Mo, channeling the likes of Tom Selleck, Ghandi and Ron Burgandy, vying for the ultimate accolade:  Man of Movember.

While growing a Mo is left to the guys, Mo Sistas (women who support their guys) form an important part of Movember by recruiting Mo Bros, helping to raise funds and attending the highly anticipated Gala Partés.

This Movember, the money raised in the U.S. will be split between the Prostate Cancer Foundation and the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

The Prostate Cancer Foundation will use the money raised by Movember to fund research to find better treatments and a cure for prostate cancer.  

The Lance Armstrong Foundation will use the money raised by Movember to fund:
•    the LIVESTRONG Young Adult Alliance program which has the goal of improving survival rates and quality of life for young adults with cancer between the ages of 15 and 40. 
•    research initiatives to further understand the biology of adolescent and young adult cancers.

To date, Movember has raised $47 million globally making it the world’s largest charity event for men. Significantly, awareness of men’s health issues has improved with Movember helping to spread important health messages directly to millions of Mo Bros & Sistas around the world. 

We challenge you to join us in changing the face of men’s health.

Join my Movember team here: Riley Racing Movember Team

I finally got a Google Wave invite and can be found at jamesoncriley@googlewave.com. If anyone else has an account, feel free to send me a request. Otherwise, just leave your Wave account in the comments.

A while ago, my father discovered YouTube, and decided that he would start searching for possible sightings of him at either Woodstock (the original) or some of the Watkins Glen Formula 1 Grand Prix from the ’70s. Sure enough, he found, well, himself. There he was, at the 1971 Watkins Glen Grand Prix at 21 years of age. Unforunately, the YouTube video disappeared, and we couldn’t find the video anywhere…

So just the other day, I did a search on Google for the video……..and found it! My father Chris Riley (boss of Riley Racing) can be found at film time :13 at the far right, just behind Jody Sheckter. He’s got dark long hair, a mustache, and a white shirt.