Lougheed

I love you

I've been thinking about doing this for a few months now.  I had orginally wanted it to say "I hate you" but this seems right.

Where were you on 9/11: Supposed to be at the Pentagon

A client of mine was working in Chicago for Leo Burnett in 2001. One of his accounts was with the US Army. My client had had several meetings with Army Lt. Gen. Timothy Maude as they worked through the design of the Go Army interactive project.


The project team was scheduled to meet at 9AM on Tuesday September 11th. The meeting ended up being pushed back to later in the week. The meetings often took place in the west wing of the Pentagon, which is of course the section of the building destroyed on that day.


Lt. Gen. Timothy Maude was the highest-ranking officer killed at the Pentagon on 9/11.

Freedom Tower - the two-humped horse

I liked the original Libeskind proposal that supposedly was the winner of the international design competition. The 1,776 ft spire structure reflected the Statue of Liberty and reclaimed the skyline with style and optmism.

Then developer Larry Silverstein (who had a 99-year lease on 7 World Trade Center and the twin towers) and his ego got involved. He started using insurance proceeds to design a new twisting structure with architect David Childs. The mandated partnership between Libeskind and Childs resulted in what you see here. I see one twisting building with a spire tacked on to it. Like they say, a camel is a horse designed by committee.

Flight 77: Where's de plane boss?

This is a very interesting little Flash movie that raises questions about what really hit the Pentagon that day. According to this and many other sources, the damage done to the Pentagon is inconsistent with what should have happened when a Boeing 757 slams into a building. Check it out here. Thanks to CD for the head's up.

Incredible 9/11 images

This web site belongs to a friend of mine. He and his pregnant wife were living in lower Manhattan, just steps from the WTC complex. These pictures are some of the most amazing I've ever seen. The story is also incredible. Check it out here.

Where were you on 9/11: I was on a plane

I was running usability tests for Alcatel that summer. I remember it was a nice morning. I flew from the island airport in Toronto to Ottawa on the last flight before the FAA pulled every airplane out of the sky. I remember getting off the plane at 8:50AM, four minutes after AA 11 hit the north tower. Crowds had gathered around the TV monitors at the airport. I stopped to look for a second but my flight was delayed and I was late for a nine AM meeting.

I learned in the cab that a second passenger plane had struck the south tower and then the Pentagon at 9:37 EST. I remember people crying at work and the office shutting down soon after. I stayed in the hotel because all I wanted to do was watch TV, call friends in New York, and digest what had happened.

Where were you on 9/11: Dulles taxi driver

On my last trip to Dulles, VA to visit America Online, I asked my taxi driver where he was that day. He told me he was working and actually heard American Airlines 77 slam into the Pentagon. He said he worked the entire day and made great money. People would call to be taken from one location to another, only to find it was closed, so they needed a ride home.

The same cabbie gave me a web address to watch Al Qaeda videos of kidnapees being beheaded. I didn't follow the link.

9/11 Commission Report

Came out last week. I read a bit of it online and it was good - a much easier read than I had anticipated. It almost reads like a story.

They also released new footage from Dulles airport showing four or five hijackers passing through airport security. The creepy part is how mundane it all looks. The grainy video shows businesslike Arab-looking men going through the same routine I go through when I fly. (Which isn't much these days).