Never Forget

Yes, I remember where I was in September 2001. I had just passed the first busy summer at my new job in the communications department at Norman Rockwell Museum, was still getting a feel for living in the Berkshires (an odd adjustment), and looking into new performing opportunities. At work we were getting ready to debut an exhibition of Rockwell's work at the Guggenheim in New York City (a big deal), when I first heard the startling news that a plane had struck one of twin towers of that same city.

It sounded like a tragic accident, and I felt a bit protective--a year earlier I had been working in New York (interning at a video production company), and was still hoping to relocate to the Big Apple. I remember a clear, blue sky that morning, and I recall the radio being turned on for more details... then we learned that a second plane struck the World Trade Center. 

I don't remember the weather from that point on... just a feeling of the day growing darker and darker. Confusion and some concern over whether there would be more attacks (there were... the Pentagon and Pennsyvania). Being a video production guy, it was ironic that I didn't have television at that time (still setting up my apartment, and reception in the Berkshires was lousy without cable--a time when I shouldn't have needed a digital converter). I listened to the radio non-stop... heard stories from friends and co-workers... talked to the girl I was dating at the time, and finally went over to her family's house to see pictures of the towers burning and filling the sky with chaos. The visual that really got to me was on the front page of the paper the next day or so... a photo of people choosing to jump out of the struck buildings instead of being engulfed by flames. Man, that affected me... 

It was a really strange time. Maybe it was better that I wasn't in New York, but I really wanted to be--more than ever. I ended up donating blood and doing some other volunteer work. It was the only time I seriously thought about enlisting.

I remember this TV special... a sort of memorial concert, and U2 playing. Somber. black and white. Felt unlike any concert I had seen in the U.S. It was quite moving:

There were flags flying everywhere... after a few years, it felt like a bit too much, but in this current time of partisan politics, it's somewhat hard to remember how "united" the country felt right after the terrorist attacks...

I waited to visit Ground Zero. When we opened the Rockwell show at the Guggenheim months after the attacks, a couple of my colleagues caught a train down to see the area... I wasn't ready to experience that... or rather, I didn't want to treat it like some sort of sight-seeing spot. 

It was four years later when I finally traveled to Ground Zero. I had been in New York to attend a concert and conduct an interview with my favorite band, A-ha (on September 11, 2005, actually), and the day after felt like the right time to finally see the site. I was shooting b-roll footage of the city at that time, but I don't remember filming there. I looked around at the tributes... marveled at the gaping hole where the buildings once stood.

Two years ago I went back to the site, and this time filmed the area rather extensively for some visuals I was creating for the Spoken Word Almanac Project. The process of rebuilding seemed slow... there was some controversy about a mosque being built near the area... New York still seemed hard, but a little more sympathetic... or maybe I had just gotten more used to the city, having rented an apartment there for several months.

Last year, on the tenth anniversary, I attended a beautiful interfaith ceremony with Sarah and her family in Albany. It was touching... a time to reflect on this national tragedy that still stings... still seems so inconceivable... and honor the fallen--paying respects as we do every year. They may have hurt us, but at the same time, I recognized the progress... the resolve to keep moving. 

I also remember thinking in my head about my exciting plans to propose to Sarah in just days... positive... sweet vibes... another affirmation that life was just going to go on...

Face Front, Man

Sarah and I just finished watching the 1993 film, What's Love Got To Do With It. I had never seen it  before, but music fan that I am, it stood out to me amidst a stack of DVDs at the library the other day. Well, I now see what all the talk was all about. The movie features some truly great performances by both Angela Bassett as the singer Tina Turner, and Laurence Fishburn as her husband, the abusive musician Ike Turner. I had known a little about Tina's troubled past, but it was interesting to learn more about how she became the legendary performer that she is today, despite all the obstacles--both personally and professionally (I was not aware of how long it took her to land a hit song):



Last night I had the opportunity to see a concert in New York City by a singer who is not quite as well-known as Tina Turner, but equally as entertaining a performer. Truthfully, Jarvis Cocker's witty indie rock music is more my speed than Tina's glossy rock hits, and especially the songs off Different Class, the 1995 album that he recorded with his band Pulp. Well... Pulp reunited last year, and just played a couple of rare shows at New York's Radio City Music Hall--I guess as a warm-up for their performance at the Coachella Music Festival this month. It's all unbelievable to me, as Pulp was a '90s Britpop band that never really attracted widespread commercial success here in the U.S... but I just love the swagger of British pop/rock music--there's something rather exotic about it, and here was a rare sighting of a "bird" that seldom makes it to these shores.



Unfortunately, my last-minute decision to attend the show was thwarted, as I just missed the train to make it out to the city... I sat there at the station perplexed... trying to figure out what to do... suddenly rocked back to reality with a concern about my finances, and whether it was really worth trying to catch a later train that would be cutting so close to showtime... Jarvis would surely have appreciated the gloomy scene, as it is the kind of mood you'll find mixed into some of Pulp's best work: dark themes wrapped in a rather infectious pop/rock groove. Anyway, I hear the shows were fantastic, and the band played most of the songs off their 1995 album-! And apparently Mr. Cocker has become an even more engaging and eccentric showman... well he should, as I understand he founded Pulp back in the late 1970s (that's a long time until they broke in the mid-90s)!

While trying to forge my own artistic career, it is interesting to consider the trajectory of two musicians who have persevered through tough times and lean years. The fact that they both have matured into such strong performers is a good example of stick-to-it-ness in the uncertain "creative" world.

So I'm disappointed that I didn't make it to the show with the other "common people," but there is a lot to plan for in terns of my wedding and other projects, so the money is well saved... I just wish being "responsible" felt a little more fun in the here and now. I'm hoping I have another opportunity to see Jarvis live... in the meantime, I'll just keep "rolling, rolling, rolling down the river..." hopefully collecting more savings and knowledge along the way, and growing into my own frontman shoes.

Related Links:


Tina Turner: Wikipedia.org


"Pulp Make Triumphant U.S. Return at Radio City Music Hall," Rolling Stone, April 11, 2012

"Watch Pulp Make Triumphant U.S. Return on 'Jimmy Fallon,'" Billboard.com, April 10, 2012

"Pulp make triumphant return to the U.S. with two sexy, bouncy shows at Radio City Music Hall," Entertainment Weekly, April 12, 2012