Rabbi Irwin Kula has taken some of the final recordings of 9-11 victims and set them to Eicha trope. I was surprised by how hard it was to listen.
Archives for September 2008
Good News Hydrox Lovers
Time for some lighter news.
In response to requests from devotees, Kellogg Company is bringing back a limited edition of its Hydrox cookie, for the sweet’s 100th anniversary. The cookie is passionately believed by some fans to be far superior to Oreos. While the new edition is not exactly health food, it is trans-fat-free (as are Oreos, since 2006); Hydrox have never contained lard and have always been kosher-dairy certified.
Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)
Felt like adding one more.
Sifting Through My Archives
I am a blogger and not unlike many bloggers I check my stats. I check my stats because I am curious to see how many people show up here. I find it interesting that so many people find the content here to be worth checking up on.
I find it interesting to see what sorts of keyword searches lead people here. And I find it interesting to see where people are coming from. It is cool to see that blogging lets you interact with the world in a way that you could never otherwise do.
Every so often I notice that people spend quite a bit of time poring over the archives. That always makes me wonder what it is they are doing. What is so interesting. What is it that they are looking for.
So dear reader, if this describes you I’d be interested in learning more about what you are after. Because for the last week there are at least three different people who have spent hours reviewing the material here. Give me a holler and let me know more, and maybe I can help you find it.
September 11- The Memories Continue
As a child I remember hearing my parents and their friends talk about how the impact that President Kennedy’s assasination had upon them. They talked about how they remembered where they were and what they were doing when it happened.
The child I used to be had trouble understanding that, although the events of my own life taught me otherwise. I can tell you where I was when I learned that President Reagan had been shot. I can tell you what I was doing when we lost the Challenger and Columbia and I can tell you what I was doing on 9/11.
I spent some time trying to decide if I wanted to write a new post for 9/11. I mulled over whether I would just show the firemen raising the flag or post the video of the attack on the towers.
Tomorrow the family will do what we always do. Mom and dad go off to work and the kids will go off to school, it will be business as usual.
In other homes around the country children will mourn the loss of their father/mother/brother/sister/husband/wives. They’ll be faced with the hard reality that time never stops. Tragedy may strike, but the world continues. It is a hard and bitter lesson.
Tomorrow I’ll coach soccer practice and thank god that the boys and I live in a country where we can do this. I’ll listen extra carefully to their conversation to see if any of them discuss the day, and then figure out if we need to talk about it at all.
Regardless of what happens I’ll spend time thinking about the day and I’ll probably take a moment to watch the video. The horror of that day never goes away. I have seen the towers collapse more times than I can count, but it always bothers me. And the day that it doesn’t will be the day I wonder about myself.
I’ll probably spend a few minutes in silent prayer hoping that the country comes together and that whomever is elected president exceeds all expectations. The best thing that we can do to honor the memories of those we lost is work to improve things here. We won’t forget them.
For those who are curious here are some related posts.
As The Bodies Fell- He Played
We Remember
Football Saves Lives
911- Five Years Later An Angry Rant
September 11 Musings
Smooth Stone has a fine memorial post to Welles Remy Crowther, a victim of the terrorists. It should be noted that Smooth’s post was part of the Project 2,996 blog.
Moderating Comments
If you are among the daily visitors you may have noticed that during the past few months I have turned on the comment moderation feature several times. The reason has been because the good old Shack is taking a shellacking from spammers who choose to pollute the blog with all sorts of commercial notices.
I have a fairly liberal commenting policy in which I let a lot go. Unlike some other bloggers I don’t always nuke comments that oppose my point-of-view. In a number of cases I have retained comments that were patently offensive.
The reason is simple, one of the reasons that I blog is for the dialogue. I like the interaction. I like to have my views challenged. I don’t like being wrong and I don’t like looking like a fool, but sometimes that is the price for pay for engaging others.
Anyway, during the past few months there have been a number of times in which people have placed comments that are nothing more than an ad for a business. I appreciate their belief that my blog serves as a good platform for promoting these companies, but I don’t appreciate being used.
Or should I say that I don’t appreciate being used for advertising for commercial services unless I am paid for it or have decided that I want to promote a product/service.
So, if you post these blatant ads without consulting me first there is a good chance that I am going to remove them. I’d rather not implement the comment moderation again, but if that is what it takes so be it.