This page contains a single entry from the blog posted on September 22, 2003 11:37 PM.
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Well, they've got the big beams of light shooting up into the night sky over the Oregon Convention Center again this year. The huge spotlights are meant to symbolize the twin towers of the World Trade Center, and memorialize those lost on 9/11/01. The display will stay up again for another two months this year, just as it did last year.
But what's the point?
Although I mean the organizers of this memorial no disrespect, the two columns of light streaming into the night sky no longer evoke in me any connection with the events of that fateful day. Instead, they remind me of how our city government spent upwards of $100 million to double the size of the Convention Center, which to this day remains as empty as it ever was, if not more so.
To me the twin beams represent our own celestial figures, Mayor Katz and Commissioner Sten. I envision them as the Castor and Pollux of Bad Local Government, beaming all those precious tax dollars into empty, black nothingness.
Comments (6)
I believe that many of us around here (myself included) would love to see twin beams like that become a permanent part of the Twin Towers site itself. In the past when the twin beams of light shot skyward from the site, it made a dramatic statement and served as a reminder to those of us who had become accustomed to seeing the Twin Towers what had been taken away.
I can see how it might not work as well in Oregon.
Prof, I also hope that the rebuilt WTC site incorporates the twin beam memorial. Perhaps the connection to the terrorist attact and its victims is somewhat attenuated out here in beautiful downtown Portland against the backdrop of trees and mountains, rather than concrete, what with the electric bill to worry about and all. For me, it is meaningful, the electric bill notwithstanding. My office was in 7 WTC, the building across the street from the twin towers that was also destroyed. While I was out of town on official business on September 11th, my coworkers and many other innocent people were there. My view, any memorial is at once a respectful tribute to those who lost their lives and a humane gesture. I would gladly pay your share of the bill.
I wasn't concerned about the bill for running the spotlights. I'd support even much greater expenditures for a powerful memorial that meant something.
I guess my attempted point was two-fold: (1) while twin beams make sense for downtown Manhattan, the message is kind of lost against the backdrop of little Portland, and (2) any time my attention is drawn to the Oregon Convention Center, it stirs up resentment for the grand waste of public money which that facility represents.
I guess I'd add one more thing: As several of my previous posts have indicated, I will never need a reminder of 9/11. I too had friends and relatives on the scene. They survived but will never be the same. I have a copy of the Times "Portraits of Grief" book on my bookshelf, but I hardly can bring myself to open it. To me, the WTC murders are the heaviest thing that's happened on this planet in my lifetime. In U.S. history, they're second only to the Civil War. For the City of Portland to have to remind people that they happened makes me slightly nauseous.
Prof, I know you aren't worried about the electric bill. My reference to the electric bill was metaphoric. Actually, an attempt to extend yours. Better, I should stick to tax. In any event, to me, it seemed a little insensitive to tie the building, wasteful or not, to the memorial. But its your blog, and I like it.
You have another connection to the day. My class notes for your class were destroyed. Isn't the mayor formerly from NYC?
Charamba, Douro 2008
Horse Heaven Hills, Cabernet 2010
Lorelle, Horse Heaven Hills Pinot Grigio 2011
Avignonesi, Montepulciano 2004
Lorelle, Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2011
Villa Antinori, Toscana 2007
Mercedes Eguren, Cabernet Sauvignon 2009
Lorelle, Columbia Valley Cabernet 2011
Purple Moon, Merlot 2011
Purple Moon, Chardonnnay 2011
Abacela, Vintner's Blend No. 12
Opula Red Blend 2010
Liberte, Pinot Noir 2010
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Indian Wells Red Blend 2010
Woodbridge, Chardonnay 2011
King Estate, Pinot Noir 2011
Famille Perrin, Cotes du Rhone Villages 2010
Columbia Crest, Les Chevaux Red 2010
14 Hands, Hot to Trot White Blend
Familia Bianchi, Malbec 2009
Terrapin Cellars, Pinot Gris 2011
Columbia Crest, Walter Clore Private Reserve 2009
Campo Viejo, Rioja, Termpranillo 2010
Ravenswood, Cabernet Sauvignon 2009
Quinta das Amoras, Vinho Tinto 2010
Waterbrook, Reserve Merlot 2009
Lorelle, Horse Heaven Hills, Pinot Grigio 2011
Tarantas, Rose
Chateau Lajarre, Bordeaux 2009
La Vielle Ferme, Rose 2011
Benvolio, Pinot Grigio 2011
Nobilo Icon, Pinot Noir 2009
Lello, Douro Tinto 2009
Quinson Fils, Cotes de Provence Rose 2011
Anindor, Pinot Gris 2010
Buenas Ondas, Syrah Rose 2010
Les Fiefs d'Anglars, Malbec 2009
14 Hands, Pinot Gris 2011
Conundrum 2012
Condes de Albarei, Albariño 2011
Columbia Crest, Walter Clore Private Reserve 2007
Penelope Sanchez, Garnacha Syrah 2010
Canoe Ridge, Merlot 2007
Atalaya do Mar, Godello 2010
Vega Montan, Mencia
Benvolio, Pinot Grigio
Nobilo Icon, Pinot Noir, Marlborough 2009
Portuga, Rose 2011
Revelation, Chardonnay, Pays d'Oc 2010
Beaulieu, Cabernet, Rutherford 2005
Monte Alto, Tinto Reserva 2005
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Cabernet, Indian Wells 2009
Espiral, Vinho Rose
Vin-Koru, Pinot Gris 2011
14 Hands, Hot to Trot Red 2009
Rodney Strong, Cabernet, Sonoma 2009
Abacela, Vintner's Blend #11
Portuga, White 2010
La Bourgeoisie, Red 2009
Januik, Red 2009
Three Rivers, River's Red 2008
Kirkland, Alexander Valley Merlot 2008
Muga, Rioja Rose 2010
Quinta das Amoras, Vinho Tinto 2009
Mauro Molino, Barbera d'Alba 2009
Garda Chiaretto Rose
Columbia Crest, Two Vines Vineyard 10 White
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Pinot Gris, Columbia Valley 2009
L'Hortus, Rose de Saignee 2010
Maculan, Pino & Toi 2008
McKinley Springs, Bombing Range Red 2008
Trader Joe's Pinot Gris 2009
Montes Alpha, Cabernet 2007
Gran Sasso, Sangiovese, Terre di Chieti 2009
Garda, Classico Chiaretto Rose
Beaulieu, Cabernet, Rutherford 1999
Picos del Montgo, Tempranillo 2008
Chateau de Montmirail, Vacqueyras 2008
La Granja 360, Syrah 2009
Montgras, Carmenere Reserva 2009
Lange, Pinot Gris 2009
Columbia Crest, Horse Heaven Hills Cabernet 2008
Kirkland, Pinot Grigio 2010
Trader Joe's Coastal Syrah 2009
Columbia Crest, Horse Heaven Hills Merlot 2008
Trader Joe's Coastal Chardonnay 2009
Vieux Papes Red
Domaine de l'Aujardiere, Chardonnay 2009
Santa Rita, Cabernet, Medalla Real 2007
Penfold's, Koonunga Hill Shiraz Cabernet 2008
Guild, Red, Lot #02 2008
Dievole, Dievolino Sangiovese 2008
Laforet, Burgogne Chardonnay 2009
Columbia Winery, Merlot 2007
Bonterra, Cabernet 2008
Elk Cove, Pinot Gris 2009
Maquis Lien 2006
Scott Paul, Pinot Noir, Le Paulee 2007
The Occasional Book
Neil Young - Waging Heavy Peace
Mark Bego - Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul (2012 ed.)
Jenny Lawson - Let's Pretend This Never Happened
J.D. Salinger - Franny and Zooey
Charles Dickens - A Christmas Carol
Timothy Egan - The Big Burn
Deborah Eisenberg - Transactions in a Foreign Currency
Kurt Vonnegut Jr. - Slaughterhouse Five
Kathryn Lance - Pandora's Genes
Cheryl Strayed - Wild
Fyodor Dostoyevsky - The Brothers Karamazov
Jack London - The House of Pride, and Other Tales of Hawaii
Jack Walker - The Extraordinary Rendition of Vincent Dellamaria
Colum McCann - Let the Great World Spin
Niccolò Machiavelli - The Prince
Harper Lee - To Kill a Mockingbird
Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus - The Nanny Diaries
Brian Selznick - The Invention of Hugo Cabret
Sharon Creech - Walk Two Moons
Keith Richards - Life
F. Sionil Jose - Dusk
Natalie Babbitt - Tuck Everlasting
Justin Halpern - S#*t My Dad Says
Mark Herrmann - The Curmudgeon's Guide to Practicing Law
Barry Glassner - The Gospel of Food
Phil Stanford - The Peyton-Allan Files
Jesse Katz - The Opposite Field
Evelyn Waugh - Brideshead Revisited
J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
David Sedaris - Holidays on Ice
Donald Miller - A Million Miles in a Thousand Years
Mitch Albom - Have a Little Faith
C.S. Lewis - The Magician's Nephew
F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby
William Shakespeare - A Midsummer Night's Dream
Ivan Doig - Bucking the Sun
Penda Diakité - I Lost My Tooth in Africa
Grace Lin - The Year of the Rat
Oscar Hijuelos - Mr. Ives' Christmas
Madeline L'Engle - A Wrinkle in Time
Steven Hart - The Last Three Miles
David Sedaris - Me Talk Pretty One Day
Karen Armstrong - The Spiral Staircase
Charles Larson - The Portland Murders
Adrian Wojnarowski - The Miracle of St. Anthony
William H. Colby - Long Goodbye
Steven D. Stark - Meet the Beatles
Phil Stanford - Portland Confidential
Rick Moody - Garden State
Jonathan Schwartz - All in Good Time
David Sedaris - Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim
Anthony Holden - Big Deal
Robert J. Spitzer - The Spirit of Leadership
James McManus - Positively Fifth Street
Jeff Noon - Vurt
Road Work
Miles run year to date: 21
At this date last year: 52
Total run in 2012: 129
In 2011: 113
In 2010: 125
In 2009: 67
In 2008: 28
In 2007: 113
In 2006: 100
In 2005: 149
In 2004: 204
In 2003: 269
Although I mean the organizers of this memorial no disrespect, the two columns of light streaming into the night sky no longer evoke in me any connection with the events of that fateful day. Instead, they remind me of how our city government spent upwards of $100 million to double the size of the Convention Center, which to this day remains as empty as it ever was, if not more so.
Comments (6)
I believe that many of us around here (myself included) would love to see twin beams like that become a permanent part of the Twin Towers site itself. In the past when the twin beams of light shot skyward from the site, it made a dramatic statement and served as a reminder to those of us who had become accustomed to seeing the Twin Towers what had been taken away.
I can see how it might not work as well in Oregon.
Posted by Parkway Rest Stop | September 23, 2003 8:42 AM
Any word on the Illuminata parade, which I felt was much more thoughtful and less wasteful?
Posted by alan | September 23, 2003 9:43 AM
Prof, I also hope that the rebuilt WTC site incorporates the twin beam memorial. Perhaps the connection to the terrorist attact and its victims is somewhat attenuated out here in beautiful downtown Portland against the backdrop of trees and mountains, rather than concrete, what with the electric bill to worry about and all. For me, it is meaningful, the electric bill notwithstanding. My office was in 7 WTC, the building across the street from the twin towers that was also destroyed. While I was out of town on official business on September 11th, my coworkers and many other innocent people were there. My view, any memorial is at once a respectful tribute to those who lost their lives and a humane gesture. I would gladly pay your share of the bill.
Posted by A former student | September 23, 2003 6:22 PM
I wasn't concerned about the bill for running the spotlights. I'd support even much greater expenditures for a powerful memorial that meant something.
I guess my attempted point was two-fold: (1) while twin beams make sense for downtown Manhattan, the message is kind of lost against the backdrop of little Portland, and (2) any time my attention is drawn to the Oregon Convention Center, it stirs up resentment for the grand waste of public money which that facility represents.
I guess I'd add one more thing: As several of my previous posts have indicated, I will never need a reminder of 9/11. I too had friends and relatives on the scene. They survived but will never be the same. I have a copy of the Times "Portraits of Grief" book on my bookshelf, but I hardly can bring myself to open it. To me, the WTC murders are the heaviest thing that's happened on this planet in my lifetime. In U.S. history, they're second only to the Civil War. For the City of Portland to have to remind people that they happened makes me slightly nauseous.
Posted by Jack Bog | September 23, 2003 8:15 PM
Prof, I know you aren't worried about the electric bill. My reference to the electric bill was metaphoric. Actually, an attempt to extend yours. Better, I should stick to tax. In any event, to me, it seemed a little insensitive to tie the building, wasteful or not, to the memorial. But its your blog, and I like it.
You have another connection to the day. My class notes for your class were destroyed. Isn't the mayor formerly from NYC?
Posted by AFA | September 23, 2003 8:41 PM
I'm getting the sense I'm wrong about this. Sure, the OCC is a waste of dough, but the twin beacons of light are not the occasion to comment thereon.
I do wish we could come up a better response than artsy tributes and war, however.
Posted by Jack Bog | September 24, 2003 12:08 AM