It’s Friday morning again. Set the player to random and hit play, but still thinking about yesterday…
1. Cry Freedom - Dave Matthews (Live at Luther College)
2. Fall at Your Feet - Crowded House (Recurring Dream - The Very Best of Crowded House)
3. All Right - Toad the Wet Sprocket (In Light Syrup)
4. Crazy (Acoustic) - Seal (?)
5. Endings - Familiar 48 (Wonderful Nothing)
6. I Radio Heaven - Over the Rhine (Films for Radio)
7. Acrobat - U2 (Achtung Baby)
8. Plenty - Sarah McLachlan (Fumbling Towards Ecstasy)
9. Everything’s Not Lost - Coldplay (Parachutes)
10. If You Want to - Lost Dogs (Mutt)
Rudy Giuliani happened to be in London, not far from one of the blasts, when the attacks happened this morning — a coincidence he cited as “eerie,” among other observations he offered to the BBC.
Amid this day of shock, I recall many voices returning to the machismo that laced the air not long after the attacks of September 11, 2001. I remember hearing much talk about not letting the terrorists change the way we live.
They’re nice words, but as an ideal, they’re also unattainable — or if they are attainable, we haven’t done a very good job of living up to them. That’s not necessarily a critique of politics, though there were several changes that swept into our lives on the coattails of 9/11. Some of them were rather unpleasant. Many, to be fair, have been undeniably necessary.
But even in the best case scenario, was it ever realistic to think our way of life could remain unaltered?
Maybe that’s what sticks with me, as I hear the voices saying similar things to what I so clearly remember hearing almost four years ago. “Don’t let the terrorists change the way we go about our lives.”
It’s almost surreal to hear this type of idealism from the same mouths who a few days ago were intent on blasting the aims of Live 8 as being pipe dreams.
The truth is, our lives did change after 9/11 — drastically. A previously unmentionable set of thoughts entered our minds on a daily basis, for many it was a constant fear that has yet to be cleansed from our psyche. And the government gave us a nice color-coded chart to remind us of that nightmarish threat (a chart from which we never seem to see the bottom two colors — the ones that mean we’re relatively safe). The lines at the airport, and in many cases, embarrassing security screening procedures, remind us that the threat is omnipresent. Acts cloaked in “Patriotism” have helped to drill the point ever closer to the core of our awareness.
Eternal vigilance is ours, as way of daily living, and as a reminder of what brought it into our lives.
One can hope and pray with the utmost sincerity that Great Britain will find its way clear of this tragedy without totally surrendering their way of life, but one cannot realistically expect a Londoner’s life to ever be the same — just as one cannot realistically expect it in New York City, or in any other place touched by this type of horror.
The changes, once startling to our sensibilities, have slowly managed to fade into the background, but they’re still very real, and they did happen. No matter how you look at it, like any stone, or more fittingly, piece of excrement, thrown into the water, the terrorists will inevitable send their ripples into our lives; they will affect us — all of us. Though it is up to us to respond without losing what's left of our sanity.
The goal isn’t to remain unchanged, but to survive, to somehow heal and go on. That’s what my prayers are for tonight.
Following this morning’s co-ordinated bombings in the British capital, Great Britain has begun the manhunt for the perpetrators of the attacks.
This was quite a shock to wake up to this morning. Maybe even more shocking was how many people I came into contact with today who had no idea what had taken place — and even among those who had heard the news, the average level of concern was startlingly low. ...
No, not the President, though I guess it is his birthday too. This wish is for my second youngest (and second oldest) nephew, who I was hoping might be born four days sooner… oh well, Happy Birthday to you, whoever was born on this day.
... Found a link to this survey on Keeme’s blog, so I did it. They say it’s more likely to be accurate if more folks take part, so feel free to go on over and become a statistic like I did.
I don’t really understand the cynicism about the Live 8 phenomenon. Is there anyone in their right mind who really believes there will be absolutely no redemptive benefit to this venture?
Were its aims lofty? -to say the least. And while I don’t necessarily believe that every one of the millions of concert-goers on Saturday were completely sold on, or even aware of, the actual ideas behind the concert, I do believe that many of the spectators for Saturday’s events will retain at least some of the show’s message. And there were many, many people who were already firmly on board with the mission of the multi-event benefit.
And this benefit was, after all, about awareness, which is the foundation of any viable movement.
So the cynics who’ve posited the theory that Live 8 is bound to fail would have to be essentially wrong if any of what I’ve just asserted is true. ...
I’d like to wish you all a great Independence Day today. I’ll be working for the first part of it, but hope to enjoy any one of a wide variety of celebrations available in the metro-Philly area this evening.
First came across this blurb about Rove and the Valerie Plame leak while browsing Philly Future this afternoon, but found several other points of entry on the story as well. If this allegation is true, what are the implications for the White House?
I haven’t been able to make it down for the big show in the city today (it’s my birthday, other plans), but several of my buddies at Philly Future are adding to the site’s coverage of the show, including our behind the scenes correspondent, Albert Yee (getting some pretty decent access). Check out his, and everyone else’s thoughts on Live 8 at the Philly Future Live 8 page, which is frequently updated throughout the day. Beats the backscratching at MTV and VH1, which I tried to wade through for a little bit (can you say “corporate”?). Also, don’t forget to check out his Live 8 photos at Flickr — a lot of really good stuff so far (200 and counting). Though I was kind of surprised to see a bald Natalie Portman…