Last week I posted a photo of Toronto's Flatiron Building (I believe it's officially the Gooderham Building, named for the booze magnates who built it). Here's another photo I took on the same day. I rather like it. I think the two pedestrians rather add something to it...;-)
More relevent to today:
It's the first real snow of the season (pix taken today, posted tomorrow). As I awoke, it was a thick slush, maybe 1/2 an inch of it. Walking from the bus-stop to the office it became freezing rain/sleet/ice pellets. Whatever it was, it wasn't pretty, and I wouln't want to be working in it. They're saying it's going to turn to snow, a total of around two inches. Not a lot, to be sure, but it will be very messy, with temps right around or above freezing.
If you or the company you work for uses bike couriers, give them a nice smile, ask them how they're managing in this crap, tell them how much you appreciate the fact that they're literally risking their lives to get your packages delivered. These things make a difference, believe me!
As I was loading photos this morning, I noticed that today's November 22, the day in 1963 when JFK was shot. To most of you, that may not be such a big thing, but those of a certain age will remember the event vividly. I recall once hearing that there are certain events that are forever burned into our memories, such that we remember exactly where we were when we "heard the news". The assasination of Kennedy is one of those events: I was in grade two, and our principal, Mr. Glover walked into our class, whispered something into Miss Evans' ear, told us about JFK, and dismissed us for the day. Quite remarkable, considering that I lived in Montreal, Canada!
More than just a memory, Kennedy's shooting seemed an end of hope, the beginning of a plunge into the turbulent sixties. That plunge continued with race riots, the Vietnam war, the assasinations of Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy.
Maybe I'm just showing my age, but every November 22nd, I wonder how different the world would have been were it not for the events of that day. Better or worse? More of the same? Who knows. It certainly would be different...
8 comments:
My grade 7 teacher, Miss Kowalski, said that she cried when she received the news. She must have been about 10 or 11 at the time. Again in a place where you'd think the news wouldn't have been received so personally.
JFK's shooting. The last game of the 1972 Canada-Russia Summit Series (I watched it at Red's). The moment man set foot on the moon (downstairs at 78 Conway). The explosion of the Space Shuttle Columbia (I was driving down Highway 6 toward Hamilton and heard it on the radio).
People tend to know exactly where they were when they heard of or watched these events. Everyone remembers them and what they were doing at the time.
For Mom and Dad's generation, I guess VE and VJ day would rank up there.
For younger generations, who know? Perhaps when Brittany Spears shaved her head?
;-)
Ahhh .... the last game of the 1972 Canada-Russia Summit Series; the moment man set foot on the moon (new colorur TV); the explosion of the Space Shuttle Columbia (SMU dorm) ... don't forget 911. Got that from you. You were home from work that day and were in front of the TV. We were both (actually Chrisso too) on MSN. You were my source that day. I remember running to my boss' office to tell him the still early news and he didn't believe me. You fed me updates all day. Hard to top that one. Hope we never do.
Oh, man, I forgot about 911!
I was at home with an injured knee - first day I'd called in sick in over a year. I was watching Breakfast Television on CityTV (remember them?), and at 8:45 we went to a live feed from NYC, where a "tragic accident" had occured with a jet crashing into WTC. As we watched the smoke pouring out of the building, I saw the second plane hit the second tower LIVE! I was on the phone with my dispatcher, telling him that a second plane hit, and he said, "nah, musta been a replay". I told him it wasn't, that this was no accident, and something much more horrible than we could imagine was going on.
I spent the rest of the day messengering you, telling you what was going on: ("A tower just collapsed! A FUCKING TOWER JUST WENT DOWN - I DON'T BELIEVE IT!")
Just thinking about it makes tremble. That was quite a day - talk about the world not being the same since...
How about when John Lennon was Shot? I remember that one vividly.
It was snowing ...
I remember John Lennon, because I heard it while watching Monday Night Football. Howard Cosell told me. He interrupted the game to tell us that football was just a game, and had little meaning in the face of the news he had to tell.
Most poignant...
I have to agree, those two pedestrians do rather add to the image ... beautiful image that it be.
Maybe I'm younger, although I think not ... more likely, New Zealand, being at the 'furthermost point of the earth' (engraved on world war one memorial stones all over the place) just didn't get that news in the same way that you guys did.
Hmmm 9/11- I was chatting with a friend in Italy during his day and he said a plane had crashed into a highrise in America.
I asked 'Terrorists?'
He said 'No, a passenger jet' and I went to bed.
Sad times in NZ the next day at university ...
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