communiques

----- Original Message -----
Sent: Friday, September 14, 2001 1:22 PM
Subject: RE: ...the bowl breaks....

> Hi folks,
>
> Forgive the unattractive formatting as I attempt to frame my responses
below with outtakes and pastes.........my $0.02......
>
> H. writes:
>
> "So, my feelings are mixed. I feel something like we are victims, and
> something like we are the ugly Americans."
>
> Well said -- a good description of the contradictory emotions that we're
all wrestling with. I share a message I rcvd today from my best friend:
>
> J. writes:
>
> "Hey Buddy: Feel the same way. Or is it that I don't know what I feel?
> Want to kill somebody one minute, want to hug somebody the next. When I'm
> in the hug mode, I'm thinking of you guys."
>
> H. writes:
>
> "We have played into bin Laden's hands, just as if we had handed him guns
> and armies."
>
> I'm currently thinking of terrorism in terms of being the most extreme
> form of passive-aggressive behavior. On the one hand, having been attacked, if
> we don't respond, we are the vanquished. If we do respond, we are the
> oppressors. It's a lose-lose game. If there were a shred of humanity of
> morality at work here at all, terrorists who have made the decision to
> engage in an act of such egregious aggression against a nation (forgive
> the jingoism) of America's size, stature and resources -- financial, political
> and technological -- the very absolute *least* they could do is to warn
> their own citizens, and then immediately evacuate the nation.
>
> Because we've been known to be swift and brutally ruthless in our
> retaliation. Brutally merciless. Our own pundits and politicos have
> already verbalized their opinions -- that our retaliation, which will
> inevitably come, will be, when it arrives, "completely disproportionate"
> and will take the form of "ending states that support terrorism."
>
> S. writes:
>
> "It's not just our support of Israel, altho that has a lot to do with it.
> Why do we support Israel? Not because we *like* Israel, necessarily, but
> more because Israel is our toe-hold into the Middle East, and we need to
> protect our affordable gas prices. Our Middle East policies are driven (if
> you'll pardon the expression) by what is good at the gas pumps and in our
> pocketbooks, with little regard for anybody else."
>
> I'd be hard-pressed to come up with a better summary of the origin of the
> term "ugly Americans." As for oil interests, see "Gulf War." Nothing about
> that one fit Aquinas's definition of a "just war."
>
> S. writes more:
>
> "IMNSHO, suicide bombings are a tool of desperation...I cannot accept the
> stereotype that "those people" have glorified suicide to the point where it
> has so easily overcome the instinct of self-preservation. For a people (or
> an individual, for that matter) to consider a suicide mission to be viable,
> they must feel that there is no other way."
>
> B. asks:
>
> "Ever notice how those that direct suicide missions in any form, never
> really put themselves in a position to die for the cause their own damn selves?"
>
> The phrase "lunatic fringe" comes to my mind. For instance, who in their
> right mind would, in our current climate, phone in a bomb threat? Who would
> attempt to board a place with false id's? Answer: No one. No one in their
> right minds would even consider such a thing. These individuals are of some
> wholly alien psychic make-up.
>
> H. writes:
>
> "My reaction is weak in the extreme, and I'm a bit ashamed of it. Maybe I've
> been working in juvenile court too long, but I have this feeling of wanting
> to understand what in god's name we have done to them, that they are pushed
> to this much anger. It's the same reaction I have to juvenile murderers:
> what happened to this kid that makes him so angry and lets him have so
> little regard for life?"
>
> [ I would say that shame is not what we need, but I understand it. And I
> appreciate your humility -- you've stared in the face of serious and
> irreparable injustices more than most of us, certainly more than me, H. ]
>
> S. poses a similar question:
>
> "It's time for us to ask what our culpability is...what have we done to make
> America and Americans targets?"
>
> Best I can say is that I'm conflicted. Coming from someone who doesn't
> believe that humans are intrinsically evil, this kind of tragedy is hard to
> explain. I tend to think there is no explanation, though I, too, am at risk
> for oversimplification. The only way I can even remotely comprehend it is
> if I look at it from a perspective of critical mass. Perhaps the sum total
> of positive and negative mass in the universe is continually swinging into
> and out of equilibrium. Perhaps at present, we've reached a point where the
> negative has reached critical mass, and has become a real threat, and only
> The Universe really "knows" this, and what we're sadly witnessing is a
> cycle, is the utterly conscience-less swing of the pendulum. Think of the
> human spiritual energy involved -- we're talking like 5,000 *LIVES* -- where
> does that energy go? I don't believe that it goes nowhere. Perhaps, as I
> heard Netanyahu (sp?) say, this was our "wake up call from hell," like Pearl
> Harbor, like the Holocaust. Perhaps humans are just dense, and this is what
> it takes before we realize that there's a serious imbalance, that the center
> is not holding. There's nothing positive about it, but maybe, from a
> Universal perspective (which I, granted, have no right to claim, even if it
> were possible, and I don't know that it is) this is a corrective measure,
> some cosmic trigger to address a universal wrong. I wish I knew more. I
> wish I knew anything.
>
> Peace,
>
> Rune

Aside: Ram Dass responds.

and only shadows remain

tears from a metacrawler search:

Windows on the World, New York City --- Reservations: 212-524-7011
9, http://www.windowsontheworld.com/ (Direct Hit)
Pages at this site with the same name:
1. http://www.windowsontheworld.com/wow/index.shtml | More Like This

Top of World Trade Center New York City: Click on this Internet Keyword to go directly to the Top of World Trade Center New York City Web site at wtc-top.com.
750, http://www.wtc-top.com/ (Internet Keyword) | More Like This

Welcome to the World Trade Center!
world trade center home page
888, http://worldtradecenter.org/ (Direct Hit) | More Like This

In memoriam

• The Black Day
  
• Shattered

perhaps the only objective picture



and then some flags

well said

Another Day

Happy birthday, Leonard Cohen.

A Nation Regroups, at a Measured Pace

Sobering views from the world's newspapers, as the planet attempts to come to terms with the reality of September 11, 2001.

On another note, Happy Birthday, Ken Kesey. If we ever could use some Merry Prankster-ism, now's a pretty good time.

speechless, still

What can anyone say. Here, some NYC bloggers cover the tragedy in words and pictures at The Fine Line, Like An Orb and cia's ext212.

Other opinions at Madison, WI's The Capital Times.

Namaste.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BLOGGER
[ Reprinted courtesy of NextDraft, a cool service that will send you these types of daily communiques when you subscribe ]

It really wasn't all about the money. Sure the money was a factor for many internet companies and anyone who even discussed the topic of the web ended up spending some time talking about the dough. It was the story after all. We haven't seen too many booms like that in history and the ridiculous accumulations of wealth made for some pretty decent fodder. And it was, in many ways, the most simple part of the story so it was covered heavily. And now that the money part of the web has calmed down, the only story out there seems to be that the money is gone. But is was never the only story.

Perhaps the most common and most irritating angle taken was the incessant coverage of the dot com parties. First these events were painfully over-covered. Then the end of these parties was even more painfully blanketed. As a person involved in the internet 'scene' I was occasionally interviewed to comment on some topic. The most common of these was the rise and/or demise of the internet party. Here's a little secret. Most people who went to those parties were there for two reasons. First, back in the heyday, everyone was working until two in the morning, so these parties were almost like a lunch break. Second, everyone was incredibly excited about their work and wanted to hang out and chat with others who were equally excited. When you have a front row seat at the revolution, who wants to go home? Sure there was talk of options and stock prices. But when the market went crazy, these were also topics of conversation around many dinner tables. And the media could always find some twenty-something dot com millionaire idiot who was willing to show reporters the view from his new penthouse or take a camera crew for a spin in the new convertible. There is perhaps no less intriguing and less impressive combination than very new money mixed with unctuous insecurity, a desperate need to compensate, thoughtlessness about others, an inability to understand and accept the very real element of luck, and a new set of wheels.

But that was never the real story.

The real story is about companies like Blogger. Two years ago this week, the folks at Blogger.com created a simple tool that enabled users to easily post comments and thoughts to their own web sites. Over the last two years, thousands of writers and artists (even those who previously had no idea that they were either) have used this tool to create their own public diaries or highly trafficked sites. Some of the sites are just a collection of random thoughts visited by friends. Others are topic-specific and welcome thousands of visitors a day. None of these sites cost millions to produce. Blogger itself is currently being run by one guy.

The web removed a barrier. An obstacle that often separated creativity from action has been poked full of holes. Long after we forget the details of the economic revolution, we will still enjoy the fruits of the creative one. The internet makes sharing one's thoughts or art as simple as pressing the send button. That's what many people were really talking about at all those parties - how empowering it is that products they envisioned and built were being used by millions of people throughout the world. The internet economy will rise again and technology will be, in many ways, the central driver of growth across many parts of the world. In dot com regions like the Valley and SF the gloom that accompanies joblessness and crushed companies will gradually lift. And the parties? Will they return? Well, in many parts of the web, they never stopped. In fact, there is one going on right now.

Happy second Birthday, Blogger.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

[ From the 8.24.01 issue of NextDraft, reprinted here.....well.......cut'n'pasted here, if you can call that reprinting........hit this link to subscribe. ]

Resettling

Your Humble Chronicler happily reports that The Band has safely and (more or less) smoothly made the transition from the BIG city (Pittsburgh, PA, population ~3 million) to the small town (Tallmadge, Ohio, population 16.5.....thousand!). The New Gig is underway, Sonshine is enrolled in his new school, El Chat Diablo (aka Ferocite) has adapted to his new expanded (and carpeted) digs and we've even found a preliminary dry cleaner nearby the new 'hood. Our Muse continues to search for the right new gig for herself, whiling away the time at home tutoring the next door neighbor's 2-mo-old cat, Bingo (aka Bongo, JoJo, TinyCat and, most recently, Uma Thumban), a little orange waif of a feline, with six claws on each front paw.

I will also happily report that We Are Not Missing the Big Old Bad Old City. At all. While it will likely never fade to a distant memory, it's also about as likely that it will ever rise to the level of High Nostalgia, such as lola describes here.

Later.

- - R.

...three, two, one......

....this is it........outta here after today. Feeling ok about everything.

Humility

So Your Humble Chronicler has developed a not unusual and, dare we admit, trendy, even, morning habit. The habit has developed over the time period since January, when The Band launched wholeheartedly into living a more healthy existence -- at least being as conscious of what We Daily Consume as we are for what we feed our pets. In a nutshell, we've been stopping off at Starbucks each morning before coming into the office. While our original choice was a grande latte quad -- which was always delicious, mind you -- Better Judgement has since kicked in, and The Band now approves of our daily grande house coffee (less impact in terms of both calories and $$$).

Anyway, that's the habit. The habit takes us to the heart of Oakland, which is a typical inner-city, university urban campus, gritty, high-traffic, heavily populated area. Lately, The Band has been seeing a homeless dude in the area -- one of many, sadly -- but this guy stands out. Basically, it's because he's got a pretty serious Jesus-look thing going on for himself (I tend to think it's not something he planned) -- long reddish-brown hair, full beard, sandals, torn pants, no shirt. He's also accompanied by two decent sized stray dogs, which he's clearly devoted to, though I think they're just fellow street creatures. Anyway, I've seen this guy before, and I think the whole homeless thing in America is an unconscionable tragedy, and I'm moving out of this hard-hearted city in four days, so I figured I'd give him a few bucks, figured he'd need it, figured he could use it. And he very nicely declined. Very politely and in a way that didn't make me feel uncomfortable in any way, he declined. Said that, until he finds a place to live, he doesn't want money, because it'll just get lost or stolen or confiscated by the cops. Said he hates being homeless, and he wants to get a place and a job as soon as possible -- wants to get married and have kids, "if I still have time -- I'm getting pretty old" -- he looks about late-40's to me. And then he proceeded to talk to me about how there are forces at work here to commercialize our city parks, and that he really needs people he can work with in order to resist this movement, "in a peaceful, reasonable and legal way."

Will we miss the city?

Sure. Cities are neat. They are the zoos of humanity. And much more. And much less.

We really should return to this topic in the future, because there is no time at present to do it justice. And there is no time like the present. Meanwhile, does anybody need five bucks?

...three, two, one......

TBH's decade-long stint here in the 'burgh is winding down. Have kept things "low-key", as one of our work colleagues described it yesterday, in terms of our departure -- a request was made by Your Humble Chronicler, at The Band's request, to forgo any parting festivities. To date, the request has been honored. The guard is passing.

Parting Gift Inventory

The following are all home-burned CD's presented to The Band over the past few days -- pretty cool -- w/out any planning or research, we now have two humble but interesting mini-collections to add to the vast musical library:

• David Byrne -- Feelings
  
• Talking Heads -- Speaking in Tongues, Little Creatures
  
• Celtic Stuff -- Solas, Cherish the Ladies, Lunasa, Martin Hayes and Dennis Cahill

Thank you, everyone!!

{*hugs*}

The Sky is Falling

Or something, man. Something's up. The Wheel of Dharma turns......

• John Lee Hooker, 1915 - 2001
  
• Chet Atkins, 1924 - 2001
  
• Jack Lemmon, 1925 - 2001
  
• Carroll O'Connor, 1924 - 2001

In Other News

• When did it become fashionable for war criminals to behave like major brats?? In court, no less. In The Hague, for cryin' out loud!!!!!!!!!!!
  
• Speaking of brats, sounds like splitsville for Toothface and Bratt-Boy....
  
• Wow -- bug sex -- like, *yowsa*......?
  
• Loch Ness no more?!!?!!
  
• Fear not -- Sasquatch is back!

And it looks like The Band has located it's next domicile. A weekend trek to Ohio waxed productive as we landed ourselves a 1.5 yr-old two-story, blue-gray three-bedroom duplex with a wetlands bordering the back yard. Attached garage and central air. We may be forced to admit that the salad days are officially over; however, we really couldn't resist the thought of deer and wild turkeys in the back yard.

Man Doth Liveth...

But not by bread alone. Take us, for example. After a long dry spell of life sans entertainment, we have, in the past few weeks alone, seen:

• Josh Joplin, at Rosebud
  
• Kristen Hersh, at Rosebud -- ingenious, catchy and haunting music that isn't dumb (see also here)

Tonight, we were slated to see Bob Schneider, at same, but apparently there was a problem (?) in Canada (?) and tonight's show was cancelled. Wonder what that's all about.

.....still liking that little orange 'publish' button in IE 5.0...

And the changes look to be still operational -- mucho thanks and virtual hugs to our technical adviser, lola. Incidentally, the blogger publishing interface is much nicer in IE 5.0 than in Netscape 4.77 -- has much more of a smooth application look and feel to it. In case you're interested in those things.

Hmmmmm........some feedback from our pal lola may help us straighten out the archives issue......also, lo informs me that, even if you use IE 5.0 as suggested in yesterday's post, you may still get an error message telling you that "a bug has occured, do you still want to see this page?" or whatever, so we need to check on that, too...........t'anks for hanging in there with us.........

111 Miles Closer to Paradise

News Flash -- Your Humble Chronicler is relocating self and posse to Ohio within the next two months, having accepted a position based on the campus of Kent State University. Contrary to rumors, TBH is not disbanding, but is merely moving its HQ one hundred and eleven miles to the geographic west.

Lots to plan and do -- pls forgive additional lags in posts.

- R.

Pending Change

Just back from a lovely weekend in lovely LA. Friends were married. Lovely time. Being pursued by some people in Kent, Ohio, for my professional talents. Looks like a good oportunity, but I really want to be on the West Coast. Some potential interest in our talents by some folks in Iowa, as well. Which is a little closer to paradise.....but not by much. Early rumblings from some Northern/Southern Cal potential locales have yet to pan out. It's gotta be a good fit. What to do, what to do.

It will all work out for the best, one way or another.

Things that Don't Even Make us go "hmmm..."

Yeah. Trying to find newer, happier, more lucrative employment. Trying to relocate to the sunny southwest. Trying to keep it all together at home. Trying to sustain a semblance of positivity despite the third day in a row of rain when the worst that's been predicted has been "partly couldy." Even the weather people are liars. Blah, blah, blah.

So, l tell me -- can you think of anything more useful than this??

From "the April 21 Issue of HP's Daily Freebie":

BonziBUDDY retails for $40, but You get him FREE!
Need someone to explore the Internet with you as your
very own friend and sidekick? BonziBUDDY can talk, joke,
browse, search, e-mail, and download like no other friend
you have ever had. He can even compare prices on
products that you want to buy.
Click here to download your FREE BonziBUDDY now!!

From Lightspeed Online Research:

Have you ever looked at your phone and thought, “You know, it would be really cool
if my phone was shaped like a small Elvis doll. And it would be a lot cooler if, instead
of ringing, it would swivel its hips and play Jailhouse Rock.” Well, dream no more!
Go to www.noveltytelephone.com/prodmain.html to find all kinds of novelty phones,
including Snoopy, Coca-Cola Bottle, Mickey Mouse, Kiss, and Volkswagon Beetle.

{........~sigh~..........}

Six-and-a-half Things That Make us go hmmm...

This. Hmmmm......

This. Hmmmm......

This. Hmmmm......well.....ackshally, Your Humble Chronicler has been saying this would happen for over five years now.......and if you can't say "toldja so!" on your website, where can you say it?

This. Hmmmm......

This. Hmmmm......

This. Hmmmm......

Also, an April 9th NYT article on the 'burgh, titled, "Rebuilt City Starts to Feel Effects of Slowdown." Though you'd never know it, judging by this. Hmmmm......

Hi. Just wanted to do that 04/04/01 thing.

Practicing, We Are, for 04/04/04.

So, don't say we never think ahead.

Ode to the Next Generation

They're young, they're talented, and The Band can't tell if it's awesome that they have this much insight, or just scary and, on some level, maybe sad. But they're using their lives and their experiences to create art, and -- while some of it is silly, and some immature, and some incomprehensible -- as much of it is very moving, and it's all very personal. The Band approves. Check 'em out, drop 'em a line, and tell 'em Rune sent you.

Take this excerpt from Leigh's frailty.org site, which she describes as "not a priority for me, merely an escape." The excerpt:

"selectively choose issues and then claim them as yr own private pilgrimage. then you can drop & ignore 'em. hey hey. we'll all find our way, man. it is ridiculous, yr naivete & yr way of being left winged. hypocrite. hypoCRITE.

we should accept everyone, but as we accept everyone, we must not accept those whose opinions differ from ours, let us pray.

let us hear now, of yr arrogance & yr disgust with the world & the people in it. let us hear of it now, let us pray to it now, the altar of discrepancy and ignorance that infects the earth. they don't understand you.

let us pray

Wow. If that's escapism, I wonder what reality looks like... Not content to dazzle with her own site, Leigh also serves as hostess for some equally impressive young people -- for instance, emily's Tori Amos-inspired tangled site. The toolbar indicates that we're experiencing a "near-life experience." And there's also polina's departure, dense with photos and observations. And don't miss trash.

Because it's wonderful. Really. trash is wonderful really.

Elsewhere

• A little bit of everything at Diana Wiener's Especially Vivisection. Subtitled "The living dissection of human life." Neat, clean design -- just like in real life, you click around on the brain to find things. And, like in real life, once you find 'em, you gotta figure 'em out.
  
  
• For angst ("i have a lot of issues about things. but maybe one day, it won't be so bad"), try shannon's symptom site. The Band read the killed post, and wonders if shannon is even aware of the amazing balance that she has struck, with such a sparcity of words and density of emotional content impact.
  
  
• More from Ennui, at lost now for the words.

When you're done, feel free to plan your very own European takeover. Courtesy of NBC and Microsoft, of course. Use this handy tool to spread your propaganda, a la our ever-nutty Lettriste friends. (Refer to the Situationist links of 1/17/01. -- Mr. Ed.)

Jamais travail!!

First they took the world, and then -- ? -- the worldwideweb, perhaps?!?!

"700 BC -- Homing pigeons carry messages in ancient Greece."

So begins the History of the Internet and Web. If you've ever wondered, as The Band has, how it has all come to this, you may find the following links to your liking:

• The Geography of Cyberspace -- more than you ever wanted to know about the www.
  

• The Internet Weather Report -- whose backbone is down this week?
  

• Around the World in 60 Hops -- with VisualRoute, you can trace the path of packets originating from your pc as they traverse the globe!
  

• whatis?com -- "the IT-specific encyclopedia"
  

• name.space -- anyone, anywhere, almost anytime.

Have fun -- and don't forget to stretch before any vigorous activity!!