9/11

Eleven years after the September 11^th attacks, I woke up to an eerily similar day. Clear skies, nice weather, and, more or less, a noticeable amount of silence. I remember that day, first I heard the planes and then I watched the towers fall. I remember thinking how small the world had gotten, how actions elicit violent response and how this day should remind us that the world, not just Americans, must work more closely for less war and stronger relationships with, at the very least, mutual respect and understanding. Destiny sent us in an opposite direction. It sent the world toward conflict and war. 

On the series

"When the Towers Fell,"* by Galway Kinnell.

This week has left me in a pensive mood. With the constant barrage of remembrance specials and slideshows in the media, even those of us living outside the country are very aware that the tenth anniverary of September 11, 2001 is this weekend. As one who was thankfully not directly affected by this tragedy, such an anniversary does not stand as a time for me to remember lost loved ones. Rather I find myself desiring to step back and take a long look at what our country was before September 11, 2001, and what it has become today. Politically, how have we changed, and what caused this change?

Not far from where I grew up there's a tiny park, at its centerpiece is a misshapen lump of corroding metal.  For years I could never decide whether the lump was a modern art installation or just a large piece of refuse that the town simply refused to collect.  Years later I learned that it in fact was a piece of the USS Maine, a United States battleship which blew up in the harbor of Havana, Cuba in 1896.  The destruction of a US Navy warship in a foreign port was as shocking to the citizens of end-of-the-century America as the terrorist attacks of 9/11 would be just over one hundred years later; the Maine would go on to serve as the causus belli<

Great video mashup of film appearances made by the Twin Towers from 1969-2001. It's an unbelievable great archival job for sure and sports a flavorful soundtrack to boot. 

Kudos to its creator Dan Meth. 

Spotted @ the Atlantic

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Hard to believe that in only a few short weeks, it will have been 10 years since the events of 9/11. As a pet project, life long New Yorker Brian August took to Kickstarter several months back and proposed creating an iPhone app called "110 Stories" which could visually recreate the towers from every vantage point in the city, so that New Yorkers and visitors alike could once again reimagine the iconic beauty of the buildings.

The video above is August's pitch and his concept behind the app, which in only a few short weeks received enough financial backing to go into production. Some sites such as Gizmodo have criticized the app as a shameless and crass way to relive what will surely be a painful and tearful day for all New Yorkers.

Do you agree with the critics or are August's efforts coming from a good place?