9/11: Seven Years Later

This is a repost from an entry I first put together after the attacks back in 2001. Some people may not have seen this so I’m reposting it so everyone will get the chance. Where were you?

September 11, 2001 – One of those days you’ll never forget where you were. I was working at a Detroit television station, WDIV, producing the noon newscast.

At the time the first plane went into the North Tower, I was out of the newsroom. One of our videotape editors ran toward me when I came back into the newsroom and started pointing at one of our TV monitors. He said “check out the wild pictures from New York.”

At the time, we weren’t aware that a plane had crashed into the building and it wasn’t an accident! We talked about how hard it would be for firefighters to fight a towering inferno.

There weren’t a lot of people in the newsroom at the time because most people didn’t arrive until around nine o’clock in the morning. By this point, all of the television feeds we got from NBC and CNN were on the towers.

Slowly, people started coming in and rushed to see the TV’s, they’d heard the story on their car radio. It was about that time when another plane slammed into the South Tower and then we all knew something wasn’t right, we were under attack.

I saw so many co-workers with tears in their eyes. These are people who deal with death everyday. Murders and other unexpected deadly accidents we deal with them every day and have to bring that news to people who watch our station. It’s sad you somewhat get immune to death. It’s not that every death doesn’t have an effect but you have to block it out a little.

This was different, this was an attack on America, this was something no one had ever experienced before. How could you deal with such a breach of our nation? How could you cope with the potential mass casualty? The world changed forever. The lives of an entire generation of people changed forever.

Now seven years later, Osama bin Laden is still on the run. Airport security is still high even though some critics still say the U.S. have much more to do to protect people.

I do recall the hunger for information and how little it trickled out on that day. We all couldn’t do any work. We just sat at our desks watching coverage on televisions with our mouths literally gaping open watching in total disbelief.

It’s a day none of us can or will be able to forget. We must not also forget the innocent people who lost their lives and their families who have to endure the pain of not having them each day and every anniversary of 9/11.

Transformers Movie: More Than Meets The Eye

Okay, (I hate starting posts this way but…) when I got an advanced copy of the “Transformers” DVD, I can’t say I rushed home to watch it. So on my normal Sunday night viewing, I popped it in to the DVD player. I was impressed. Will it win any Oscar awards, probably not but if you’re looking for explosions, action and humor that’ll have you laughing aloud, go out and pick it up. Director Michael Bay is a genius with this kind of film.

The movie includes some well known stars like Jon Voight, John Turturro, Josh Duhamel (who is the same age as me but looks a heck of a lot better — more reason to workout more) and the kid who steals the show, Shia LaBeouf. During the extras DVD, you see what a good improvisator he is. You’ll also recognize Kevin Dunn and Anthony Anderson.

That aside, I think I’m in love with Megan Fox, she is absolutely gorgeous. The female casting director confirms this fact. She does a great job playing the girl you think is a spoiled hottie but then you learn she has an interesting backstory to her. The other female co-star, Rachael Taylor isn’t bad on the eyes either.

There was a surprise for me in writing this post. Parts of the film were shot in downtown Detroit. I got my first tip-off to this when I saw the “Fort Street” sign during part of the battle scene. Of course, that sign had to look familiar to me, I used to work down the street at WDIV. Michael Bay also used Detroit for his 2005 movie, “The Island”. During “Transformers”, he used the Michigan Central Depot for one scene.
You can find a funny Easter Egg on the “Extras” DVD that pokes a little fun at Michael Bay.

I don’t watch too many movies but this one piqued my curiosity. Pick it up at the store if it does yours, I don’t think you’ll be sorry.