Latest
Update: September 15, 2001 by Ben Marcus
14:34
ALASKA TIME SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 15, 2001 NEAR THE CONTINENTAL DESK
AT ANCHORAGE AIRPORT
I'm
here looking at all these Americans waiting in line, some of them
pushing carts with moose horns on them, most of them pale and
out of shape and a lot of them spouting "USA! USA!" rhetoric and
vowing revenge on Osama bin Laden and The entire Muslim world
and I'm thinking that it really wouldn't be too hard to hate the
average American. The average American, as they are here in Anchorage
airport, is an ignorant dolt who couldn't find Afghanistan on
a map with both hands.
It's
funny that I'm here in an international airport under tight security
and there are enough guns around to invade Afghanistan. This is
hunting season so hunters are moving in and out and they are all
carrying guns. There are gun and fishing cases everywhere.
Some
of these hunter types who are talking so tough should smuggle
themselves into Saudi Arabia, hijack a Saudi Airways airliner
and crash it into Mecca. That's about what it would take to match
what happened in New York.
Mecca
is the center of Islam. New York is the center of capitalism.
It would be pretty classic if a bunch of rowdy Americans went
over there and tried to pull it off. Bombing a 747 into Mecca
would give the Islamic world pause, that's for sure.
But
I'm not going to get into all that
I'm
here at the airport sitting on the floor plugged into an electrical
socket, working on this and the Santa Cruz article and also watching
a DVD called The Beast, which happens to be about the war in Afghanistan
circa 1981, and gives a little insight into the Muslim psyche.
The
Beast is a good movie, about a Russian tank that devastates a
"rebel" village and then gets lost in a valley with a bunch of
mujahadeen hot on its tail. You learn a lot about Islam and the
Afghani code, which includes hospitality, sanctuary and "badal,"
or revenge. At the beginning of the movie a Muj is "martyred by
a Russian tank," which means the tank runs him over and he is
squashed like a grape. The men and women of his village spend
the rest of the movie chasing the tank with rocks and an RPG,
trying to revenge that death and destruction.
They're
pretty relentless in pursuit of "badal" and they should be. If
someone destroys your town and kills your family, revenge is the
only thing that will satisfy you.
And
I think that is what the World Trade Center is all about. The
United States and coalition forces killed around 140,000 Iraqis
in a very short time, and we destroyed who knows how many homes,
villages and cities in Iraq. Add on to that all the recent deaths
in Israel, and you get a whole lot of "badal" floating around,
a lot of it pointed at the U.S. of A.
And
if we go after Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan and we do it ham-fisted
and kill a bunch of innocent people and destroy more villages,
then the "badal" will be multiplied.
That's
my take on the whole thing, anyway. Muslims are dangerous. They
live to fight and they don't mind dying.
I
picked up the DVD this morning at the home of Scott Liska, who
runs the surf tours out to Montagu Island. It was nice up there,
finally. Crystal clear, and I'd been curious about the view because
all the other times I'd been up there it had been rainy. Off in
the distance I could see Denali, and it made me wonder how far
away it was. At least 150 miles, because you can also see it from
Fairbanks.
I
pitched the Boardercross/Bore-o-cross idea to Scott, and then
I got out of there because he was taking his kids to a football
game. The view was great. I want to go back up there pretty soon.
Now
I'm at the airport watching people wait patiently for planes,
with occasional blow- ups. I'm talking to a guy from West Virginia
about sharks and stuff.
There
are guns everywhere. Weird.
I
want to go watch CNN somewhere. Not sure where the Turks are.
Just waiting patiently, I guess.
I'm
not gonna go chase the bore today. I'll go tomorrow and Monday.
I'm
just lost and wandering, no idea what I am doing from one day
to the next. I need more response on the Santa Cruz article. I
can write about it in detail 30 years ago, but I don't really
know what is going on there now.
Here
is a back and forth with Tor Johnson.
In
a message dated 9/14/2001 6:37:54 PM Pacific Daylight Time, torjohnson@hotmail.com
writes:
Ben,
Yeah,
yeah, sure, everything has changed, blah blah, money and malls,
blah blah blah.
WELL
IT'S KIND OF TRUE. JUST GIVES ME A THEME TO HANG THE STORY AROUND
THAT
IT WAS GOOD WRITERS DO, TOR. GOOD WRITERS.
Enough
with this jaded "seen it all before", old-man-on-the park-bench
bitter reminiscing about the "good old days".
THEY
WERE GOOD OLD DAYS.
Go
out there and surf, I say.
NAW,
TOO OLD.
The
essential Santa Cruz experience is exactly the same.
TRUE.
you
can still get cold as hell surfing waves on the North Coast
with a few friends, stop for great Mexican food, while ruminating
on your incredible dumb luck at not having been eaten by a Great
White.
CAN
I USE ALL THIS?
Only
difference is you won't be as cold, cause the suits are better
now. And the Mexican restaurants are better than
TRUE.
in
your precious 70's, too!!
I
LIKED SEAL JACKETS.
Yeah,
there are more surfers, but we were bitching about crowds back
then too.
TRUE
BUT IT'S WORSE NOW.
Fact
is, the locals still get all the waves cause they know 'em better.
PERHAPS
Same
as always.
Santa
Cruz rules. Where else are you gonna surf with otters and seals?
ALASKA
The
place is alive, I say. And that cool, crisp air that feels like
it's charged with electricity on spring day?
FALL
Come
on. Maybe you can't see the forrest for the trees. Huntington
Beach. Yeah, right.
THAT'S
MY POINT. OFFENSIVE THING TO SAY, BUT PARTS ARE VALID.
Tor
So
there was that argument. I'm kind of losing steam on this Santa
Cruz article. Maybe I haven't been there enough lately to write
this. I've sent pleas to Richard Schmidt and Peter Mel and a lot
of others and they aren't answering. Either too busy or not interested
or whatever.
Oh
well, I'll fake it. I try to do a good job and no one notices,
so let's see what happens if I do a bad job.
21:06
ALASKA TIME SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 15, 2001 KINKOS ON DIMON BOULEVARD
Back
at Kinkos. I just sent a funny post to Aggroville. I thought it
was funny, anyway. They probably won't.
Author:
C I RAY (---.proxy.aol.com) Date: 09-15-01 21:02
I
figured out how to solve this whole terrorism deal, and give
payback for what happened in New York.
Mayhem,
Frank, Dingz and Dezy should all sneak over to Saudi Arabia,
hijack a Saudi Airlines 747 and crash it directly into Mecca.
The
terrorists made a symbolic act when they took out the World
Trade Center (capitalism will topple), someone from America
should do a similarly symbolic act and crash a 747 directly
into that big, black stone the Muslims all walk around during
the haj.
No
one but the Mayhem, Drank, Dingz and Dezy brain trust has the
brains and courage to pull this off
Frank
used to work on planes, he could probably figure out how to
fly one.
Dingz
is a Silicon Valley techno-nerd so he could do all the GPS and
navigation.
Mayhem
is some kind of commando, apparently, so he could handle logistics.
And
for a weapon, just use Dezy's razor-sharp wit. Better than a
box-cutter.
Or
maybe Jeff Clark will shape you some fiberglass knives.
Come
on you guys. Do it. Be heros. Anonymous heros like you are here
on Aggroville.
American
will love you for it.
I'm
joking, I guess, but if America were playing as dirty pool as
the Muslims, that would be our response. Wait until Ramadan and
push a 747 right into the middle of all of it: the equivalent
of crashing a 747 into the Super Bowl or something.
But
that's not what is going to happen, officially, I don't think.
I'm
in Kinkos after spending all day in the airport, watching the
well-armed people come and go, eating in the restaurant bar, watching
CNN and chatting with people from all over. There are some very
stuck people here, because it isn't easy to get out of Alaska.
Rental cars to Detroit cost thousands of dollars, and I don't
know about the train or bus service.
I
wonder if I should offer to drive people to the Lower 48 for money
when I leave, although I don't think people will be as stuck then.
Not
much happened today. I worked on the Deus ex Machina outline and
not enough on the Santa Cruz article. I still like Deus ex Machina
and I need to get it to the Paul Allen Music Fund. I just need
to make it coherent. Anyone out there want to read it and help?
I'm
at Kinkos now and I have to get back to the airport by 23:00 to
check on Team Turkey. We'll sleep in the van tonight I guess,
if they don't get a flight. Tomorrow I am driving down to se the
Tidal Bore for sure. I'll see it again Monday and then I am out
of here.
I'll
go to Valdez to get all my stuff, maybe pull a nasty prank on
Big Mike, collect Ike and hit the road. I think I can be in Canada
by Wednesday. Hope they let me in. I don't have much dough.
If
anyone wants to read the outline to Deus ex Machina, let me know.
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