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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.

 

 



TRAVELS WITH IKE

September 15, 2001
September 13, 2001
September 10, 2001
September 9, 2001
September 8, 2001
September 7, 2001
September 5, 2001
September 3, 2001
September 2, 2001
August 31, 2001
August 30, 2001

August 29, 2001
August 28, 2001

August 25, 2001
August 21, 2001
August 20, 2001
August 18, 2001
August 17, 2001
August 16, 2001
August 15, 2001
August 12, 2001
August 10-11, 2001
August 9, 2001
August 8, 2001
August 7, 2001
August 6, 2001
August 5, 2001
August 4, 2001
August 2, 2001
August 1a, 2001
August 1, 2001
July 31, 2001
July 30, 2001
July 29, 2001
July 28, 2001
July 27, 2001
July 24-27, 2001
July 22, 2001
July 18-20, 2001
July 18, 2001
July 17, 2001
July 16, 2001
July 15, 2001
July 13, 2001
July 12, 2001
July 10, 2001
July 9, 2001
July 8, 2001
July 5, 2001
July 4, 2001
July 3, 2001
July 2, 2001
July 1 a, 2001
July 1, 2001
June 30, 2001

June 28, 2001
June 25-26, 2001
June 24, 2001
June 23, 2001
June 22, 2001
June 21, 2001
June 20, 2001
June 19, 2001
June 18, 2001
June 17-18, 2001
June 16, 2001
June 15, 2001
June 14 , 2001

NORTH COAST
March 14, 2001
March 11, 2001

March 8, 2001
March 4, 2001
March 3, 2001
March 1, 2001
February 20, 2001
February 19, 2001
February 18, 2001
February 17, 2001
February 16, 2001


ALASKA 2000
November 19, 2000
November 18, 2000

November 15, 2000
November 14, 2000
November 14, 2000
November 12-13, 2000
November 11, 2000
November 9, 2000
November 8, 2000
November 4-6, 2000
November 3, 2000
November 1, 2000
October 31, 2000
October 29, 2000
October 27, 2000
October 26, 2000
October 25, 2000
October 22, 2000
October 22, 2000
October 21, 2000
October 19, 2000
October 17, 2000
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October 16, 2000
October 14, 2000
October 12, 2000
October 11, 2000
October 10, 2000
October 10, 2000
October 9, 2000
October 8, 2000
October 7, 2000
October 6, 2000
October 6, 2000
October 5, 2000
October 4, 2000
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October 2, 2000
October 1, 2000
September 30, 2000
September 29, 2000
September 28, 2000
September 27, 2000
September 25, 2000
September 24, 2000
September 23, 2000
September 22, 2000
September 21, 2000
September 21, 2000
September 20, 2000
September 19, 2000
September 19, 2000
September 18, 2000
September 17, 2000
September 16, 2000
September 15, 2000
September 15, 2000
September 14, 2000
September 13, 2000
September 12, 2000
September 10, 2000
September 10, 2000
September 8, 2000

September 8, 2000

PHOTOS
October 1, 2000
October 1, 2000
September 27, 2000

 

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