Wam's World

Of Shaolin Babies and Terrorist Attacks

This thing gets updated the day after the fact because I do this in the office (work time well spent, I know), but better than nothing.

My 1-year-old niece Jasmine got her head shaved recently (to encourage the future growth of what would hopefully be thicker, shinier hair) so now she looks like one of those little Shaolin kids statuettes that grace our stairway. And wouldn't you know it, the moment she's bald her head gets scraped after tripping, but not on the shaven area, which dimishes the level of irony somewhat. Traffic jam when you're already late. A "No Smoking" sign on your cigarette break.

Watched the HBO/CNN tribute film about the 9-11 terrorist attacks on TV. Every time the film showed footage of the planes hitting the World Trade Center (it was a good/bad time to a video camera nut) a small pang of despair hits me. Small as I lack the emotional attachment to New York City. But when they played phone messages of those calling from inside the WTC (a few from the actual floors where the plane hit) and showed close-up shots of those who lept from the building I almost wept. Almost as I am not much of a weeper. What surprised me was finding out that a third building collapsed (designated WT building # 7) and that Mayor Guilliani and his staff were nearby when the second (North) tower collapsed. It was like a scence from Dante's Peak (I regret using a bad movie reference for this) as the huge clouds of ash and smoke headed towards them, and like Lot's wife they looked back when they should have been running foward. They even showed a Filipino teenager (even if the strap of his backpack obscured it, I'm sure that was Philippines printed on his shirt) showing TV news cameras pictures of his mother the day after the towers collapsed. She worked there.

According to the film the 9-11 incident was the most documented event world of all time, which shouldn't be surprising. World War II or the JFK's assassination didn't have the benefit of satellite news, the Internet or the Handycam. Almost as if everyone was there.