Kiss My Royal Irish Ass

I had almost forgotten about this speech by the fireman at the Concert for New York, but someone made vague reference to it on the Stern show the other day, so I had to find it for you.

Should pick up on the posting shortly.

Be good...

Random Memories and Observations on 9-11

I'm sitting here watching the video from the Howard Stern Show on 9-11-2001 and it's an interesting look back in time...both personally and reflecting on how the world may have changed, and not, in the interim.

I was living in California at the time and woke up at 6AM, just about the time the first plane was coming into the WTC. There had been a few weird murders going on in Sacramento around that time so when I clicked on the TV and there was a "Breaking News" banner I got annoyed and switched channels. By the third channel switch, I started to focus and realize what was going on.

Oddly, the first thing I did was grab the phone number of my company's New York office and called out to them. At that point, they, as well as I, thought it was a bit of a fluke and not a cause to disrupt their morning schedule. We agreed to chat later on in the day when I got to my office, and hung up.

By the way in to the office, it was clear what had happened and I remember driving down the 680, listening to the Howard Stern show on a 3-hour tape delay. It was fascinating to hear the show turn from the groping of Pamela Anderson's breasts to a slow realization of what was really going on here.

As the day wore on, things got more and more surreal...including having lunch with Jim at Togos. ;-)

I remember fleeting talk of donating blood at a local hospital until it became clear that the blood really was not needed. There weren't a whole hell of a lot of injuries requiring that aid. You lived or died.

Since then, I've become considerably more jaded about the world and, to be completely frank, glad I don't have children who will have to be here longer than I am. While not convinced that we're destined for some sort of complete destruction, I have a great deal of concern over the future. Now I don't know if that's just a function of growing older and seeing more things as life goes on, or if I am justified in my feelings.

Regardless, on that day it became clear to me, as it did to most everyone else, that life had really changed. We always thought that we were safe over here and found out that we aren't.

I guess I'm just feeling out of sorts here, looking back on what's gone down, and wanted to indulge myself by posting this rambling which I'll probably be tempted to delete tomorrow.

I have nothing to post on these show trials/hearings/circus acts going on in Washington...the whole charade makes me feel physically ill and ashamed of my country.

9-11 Fatigue

As the anniversary of September 11 rolls around, as it will continue to do at least once a year for the foreseeable future, we have to prepare for the inevitable media onslaught.

Appropriately-enough, it will be more intense than the recent looks back we got on a Princess' life, but as the New York Times wisely asks this morning, is it still fitting to have solemn mandatory remembrance after remembrance?

I, for one, side with some of the skeptics the Times talked to who said, in effect, enough is enough and it's time to largely move on with our lives. While we continue to learn lessons on what it's like to live in a post-911 world, and those who feel personally touched by those events have every right and obligation to observe the day as they see fit, the rest of the country should be allowed to carry on with life without a sense of guilt.

People die under tragic circumstances every day. It's kind of self-evident that every death can be interpreted as a tragedy.

I remain irked by the sainthood bestowed upon the 9-11 Families. While I can't put myself in their emotional shoes and don't know how I would react to a family member dying in the Event, the rest of us should not be guilt-tripped into letting them and only them define both how we remember and move to avoid such an event in the first place.

We're all Americans.