New York Stories

[Darth Eggplant]

my last memory of New York

and the World Trade Center,

my favourite one was a business

trip in october 1987.

It was a bright sunny day.

The trip was a successful business

venture and a great holiday to boot.

This was New York, prior to it's

clean up, back when peep show booths

and live sex shows were everywhere.

We had a great time at the Paladium,

the Museums, Central Park, and of

course top of the sixes.

that great landmark with it's

giant red numbers 666

emblasioned for all to see.

drank out of a brown paper bag

with whinos, visited Manhattans

largest witchcraft store,

and the fetish shops,

took a trip out to Conney Island

just like in the movie

"the Warriors."

shot hoops with inner city

school kids, and got to see

Woody Allen play the Clarinette.

 

now I remember last sept 11th

very clearly, I had gotten out

of bed, very early for me;

it was 8:50am EST and I turned on

the tv expecting to hear and see

mundane morning show banter being

tossed about by pneumatic morning

show hosts, instead I saw the south

tower with a giant hole in it's side

and think black smoke pouring out.

and unbelievably I watched, listening

to the perky tv show hosts trying to

sound serious but at the same time make

light of the situation, and then

the other shoe fell and the north tower

was struck, and then the Pentagon,

and then theat plane which went down

in Pittsburg. I sat in my bathrobe

all day watching, as did the world,

and ...well this sort of thing

only happens in fiction.

But no it was no spy movie

or Tom Clancy novel,

it happened.

It really happend.

 

Now it is one year later

and not only has the face

of the New York landscape

changed forever, but so to

have other things as well.

And so Today as so many

sources will focus on

the tragedy of 911,

I wish to remember

New York

and twin towers of

The World Trade Center

as I remembered them best.

 

And for all the American members

of the GF community, I wish you

all my deepest condolesces for

your countries loss,

but I ask all of you who have

New York Stories to tell,

to share them here today;

and over the next few days.

 

sept 11th 2001

must never be forgotten.

but neither should

all those other days

like the one I had

back in 1987.

 

EDIT: I'll add the picture Darth has sent me tonight when I get home from college, it needs to be uploaded. - Tall Guy

[GendoTheGreat]

I remember that day. It was about 10:30 PM here. I remember I was watching the late news while fiddling with my computer trying to get Max Payne to run using an 8mb 3D card with corrupted drivers (the rainbow colours... my god, the colours... they were everywhere). The news had finished and the daily sports program was about to begin, when a "breaking news story" was broadcast, stating that a plane had hit one of the WTC towers. I didn't need to be psychic to realise something was very wrong. The odds of actually striking those buildings by accident were very narrow. When I saw the footage showing the size of the hole in the building, I knew exactly what had happened. It wasn't "premonition" or some fruity bullshit like that, just a logical assumption. Thus, I was not surprised to see the scenario was repeated with the second tower. In fact, I would have been surprised if the second plane hadn't struck. What did take me aback, however, was the attack on the pentagon, and later reports of a second plane planned for another structure that had crashed instead. They just seemed to keep coming. Then I reminded myself of what I should have remembered all along: these people don't do things by half-measures. I had little idea at the time who was actually responsible, but it's only logical to assume an attack of that magnitudte would have to be an all-or-nothing attempt, or would be a hell of a waste of time and resources.

 

So that was that. I didn't freak out. I had been expecting something like it for a long time. It was inevitable and I knew it, but when it did finally did happen, I was floored. Because I wasn't expecting it then. As is the way of these things, it's going to happen, yes. But always in the future. Never now, at that moment. My mothers death was the same kind of shock. She had been sick for years and on the verge of death for months. It was staring me in the face yet the advent was a complete and total shock.

 

Anyway I waited up long enough to see the towers collapse, which pissed me off for some reason. Before I went to bed I put in a quick call to my ISP's tech support which I had been trying all day because I couldn't get my internet connection to work. The guy wasn't very helpful. He must have been watching the news.

[MeddlingMonk]

Speaking of connections, it was after the collapse of the WTC that all Mojo sites went down for the extended server change. In fact, I was trying to post something on the old GFC YaBB forum when everything stopped working. A thread had just started about the attack. Good timing.

[JofaGuht]

I remember that day. 2nd period of school had just ended. Through passing time, I heard an acquantince of mine speaking to another. I heard that the World Trade Center was hit by a plane. I didn't realize how important it was until I saw more of the reaction. I went to technology class in 3rd hour. Of course, we didn't do work. We just watched the news. And that class had one of those tv projectors and a huge projection screen, so I got to see all of the images as if you were to see them in a movie theatre. I realized how important it was then. This is what i'll be telling my kids story as "I was there" sort of thing. Well I was, just in St. Louis county. And I was just like, Oh, ****. This is big. It may be the beginning of a war. and it just had to happen when we have one of the stupidest president of all time. No offense to bush-fans. We were arguing on who did it. I thought it was the Palestinians, but they are not smart enough to plan something like this. Everyone was like "It was the chinese" and I was like, jeez, what dumbasses. Sorry, we were all a little angry that day.

 

When I got home, I flipped through all the channels, practically all the same too. I was so pissed at TV that day. I remember their little logos. "Day of Terror!" "The Horrifying Day!" you know, stuff like that. The BBC didn't have that, so that's what we watched.

 

Everyone was so obsessed too. They couldn't turn off the TV. Everyone thought that there was a face of demon in one of the exploaions. People just went psycho. What really pissed me off is that I realized that it takes tons of people to die to make people loving and "patriotic" for this here country. And I know it was the fact it was an american thing pissed me off, too. More people died in that recent colorado fire, but no sadness for them. Also, had anyone heard another adjective for the terrorists act other than unspeakable. That's all they say, "Unspeakable acts of terrorism" which is funny when you look at it because everyone talked about it.

 

Sorry, i'm too liberal to talk about it. I don't hate my country or anything, I just like to rant sometimes, the memorial assembly at school today just really pissed me off is all.

[Darth Eggplant]

global events happen all the time,

very few cause people to stop

dead in their tracks on a planetary

scale. JFk's Assassination

the moon landing, Apollo 13,

the World Trade Center bombing

*the death of princess Di*

had a large impact,

but without a doubt

the greatest moments of

stop on a dime events

of the 20th\21st century

would be JFK

MOON

Apollo 13

and The Two Towers.

(not the LOR movie)

[MJ]

I'd just come home from seeing Jurassic Park 3 at the movies. I walked in and my dad was watching CNN (the ABC in Australia kept CNN tuned in for about three days straight).

 

It actually didn't bother me all that much, I just assumed it was a bad accident.

 

At the time, of course.

[GendoTheGreat]

Originally posted by JofaGuht

I thought it was the Palestinians, but they are not smart enough to plan something like this.

 

I don't think it's as much a matter of intelligence as it is a matter of resources. And yeah, Bush is a fucking idiot. (And no, I'm not going to apologize, Bush fans, the guy is an arrogant prick.) He destabilized an already shell-shocked world with his thinly disgused revenge, now the stupid bastard is about to do the same thing with Iraq. On top of it all, oppressive regimes around the world are now parroting his war-cry as an excuse to mow down anyone in their path. Yeah, that's a real smart move you made there, you puffed up self-serving arrogant redneck bastard. (No offense to redneck bastards.)

[JofaGuht]

You know what, Gendo? There's an old saying in Tennessee, well I know it's in Texas, but it's probably in Tenessee too. Fool me once, shame on.....shame on you.....you get fooled once but you can't get fooled again......

 

gosh, that is going to leave me laughing for weeks.

[Darth Eggplant]

EDIT: I'll add the picture Darth has sent me tonight when I get home from college, it needs to be uploaded. - Tall Guy

wow, you must live

a hell of a far way

from college,

or is the M-25

the Great Beast

that devours the world

flaming up again:D