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RIP
Gut-wrenching tragedy.
In the early hours this morning, WDBJ reporter Alison Parker and photographer Adam Ward were shot and killed during their live broadcast in Moneta, Virginia. Absolutely horrific. As a former broadcast journalist, this devastating news sent chills down my spine. They were just out doing their jobs. There are no words.
Despite the fact the suspect’s name has been released and there is video of the murder, that footage will not be shown on this blog out of respect for the victims. And the name of the murderer will not be disclosed here because he is nothing but a hellish monster.
We need to remember the innocent victims:
(US News)
RIP Alison Parker.
RIP Adam Ward.
Prayers are with their loved ones.
The Day the World Changed Forever
9/11
It’s a surreal sensation that I can perfectly retrace my steps beginning with hearing the shocking news from a classmate passing by me near the doors of the second floor of my high school’s library. He said a plane had hit one of the World Trade Center towers. Confused, I continued to my math class around the corner, walked in and looked up at the television screen in the top left corner like everybody else as I made my way to my seat. There was a giant fiery and smoky hole in one of the towers. Black smoke was billowing out. We had no idea what was going on. I assumed it was a small plane whose pilot lost control. An accident for sure. But as I settled in for a few more moments, I realized the hole was far too large for such a small plane.
It started to register this was no accident.
September 11, 2001 is a day in which those who lived through it will remember forever. It was a tragedy fueled by panic and fear, as well as the pressing questions of why, how, what and who? However, it was also a day that showed us what true heroism looked like with police officers, firefighters, emergency personnel and everyday citizens helping each other through the debris of a literal hell on earth situation that September morning in New York City, Washington, D.C. and aboard a plane that crashed in Pennsylvania and during the dark days that followed.
There aren’t enough words to properly describe and remember the events of September 11th that occurred thirteen years ago. But two words continue to represent an overarching sentiment for us all, on this day, 9/11:
Never Forget.
When Art and Life Collide
Last night’s episode of The Big Bang Theory was the show’s first in 2014. It had its funny moments (not counting Sheldon’s definition wordplay) and its not so funny moments (Leonard and Penny). The writers and producers made certain not to debut 2014 lightly, but instead with a substantive episode interwoven with real life discussions and heartbreaks.
Will Penny make it as an actress after a decade of pursuing her dream?
Does Leonard honestly think Penny will make it as a successful actress?
One important distinction made last night was the primary difference between a drama and a comedy. Specifically, consider when someone says there is a “one in a million” chance something will happen. In a comedy, like Dumb and Dumber, that’s a punchline filled with hilarious delusion. In a dramatic situation (even within a situation comedy), the “one in a million” response is a metaphorical, and partly literal, punch to the gut to the recipient.
The only delusion of the latter is the harsh reality of contemplating just how large the number one million is and how small the number one is in comparison. And then understanding who represents the number one.
Devastating.
The event that led to the “one in a million” talk between Leonard and Penny was when her small diner part in NCIS with star Mark Harmon was edited out from the show. It didn’t make the final cut. Leonard and Penny discussed the realistic prospects of her future as an actress and the results were nowhere nearly as pretty as Penny herself.
The show ended with Leonard and Penny’s argument (and future) unresolved. But here is where the show got really interesting.
While reading Chuck Lorre’s weekly Vanity Card at the end of the episode, which can range from funny to thought-provoking to inappropriate, there was an instant realization that his message was as substantive as the episode itself. It was simultaneously real and surreal.
That’s truly rare and it deserves to be expanded upon.
Without a word-for-word recap, the message detailed how Penny’s part in a major CBS show (NCIS) was cut in the final edit and, therefore, did not air. Her excited friends and family, sadly, did not see her “big break” that she had worked ten years for in Los Angeles. Ironically (and unbelievably) the exact same thing happened in last night’s Big Bang Theory episode! An actress who had a small part with Raj and Stewart in the mall was cut in the final edit. It was going to be her big break, very likely with her family and friends gathered together to watch her act in one of the biggest shows on television.
Unfortunately, her part (like Penny’s) was cut in the final edit. However, Big Bang co-creator and executive producer Chuck Lorre made sure to let America (and the world) know in his Vanity Card that he wanted to apologize to the actress and that it was only because of time that her part was not included in the show’s final version. He made certain to note to her and her family and friends that she absolutely nailed the part. He then added that he will work hard to get her back on the show sometime in the future.
Wow!
It’s a case of life imitating art or art imitating life or art and life getting an apartment together in downtown Pasadena to enjoy a glass (or bottle) or white wine before their next audition.
Either way, it was real, surreal, heart-breaking, inspiring and unbelievably amazing all at the same time.
In the episode, Sheldon, in his quest for comedic dominance, stated that “comedy is tragedy plus time” after Penny left the room following her realization that her part was taken out of the show.
It seems Chuck Lorre waited the exact right amount of time to say something that turned a tragedy into something not necessarily funny, but still something that likely brought joy and a smile to a dedicated and disappointed actress’s face.
Funny how life turns out from time to time.
The Shot Missed ‘Round the World
…after Lee Harvey Oswald rattled off multiple shots at the motorcade carrying Kennedy past the Texas School Book Depository, a Secret Service agent riding in a car immediately behind the presidential limousine grabbed his Colt AR-15 high-velocity rifle to return fire.
But when his car stopped suddenly, the theory holds, Agent George Hickey lost his balance and accidentally discharged his weapon, sending a .223-caliber round rocketing into Kennedy’s head — the wound that later killed the 35th president.
This is an excerpt from an article posted this morning on NBC News online by NBC News Staff Writer Daniel Arkin. It summarizes the circumstance for the theory of the unknown shot that ultimately killed President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1963.
Question: Is it possible that a logical explanation could ever win over a conspiracy-enthused American public?
This is a fascinating query to contemplate, especially considering the legend and lore this mystery has sparked for the past fifty years. When the assassination of a U.S. president happens, as we learned with President Lincoln and John Wilkes Booth, there is an instant reaction to conclude that a grand scheme or motive influenced the tragic event. Devastation like this does not just happen, even if by accident.
But what if it did, in part?
The purpose of this post is not to declare that the aforementioned theory is correct, valid or the truth. The reason for posing the question above is simply to ponder whether or not the answer to the assassination of JFK, after all the angles, motives, facts and hypotheses have been scrutinized for five decades by experts and amateurs alike, was an international conspiracy or simply one of the the worst friendly fires in history and if either answer would be acceptable to the American people.
Will the juxtaposition of our analytical minds and wild imaginations permit such a mundane conclusion of accidental friendly fire or does it require a grander reveal?
Actually, the better question is, “doesn’t it deserve a grand reveal/answer?”
Unfortunately, former Agent George Hickey is dead, as is Lee Harvey Oswald. The opportunity for any last second disclosure is a virtual impossibility.
The frustrating reality is that someone has or had the answer to this mystery of monumental proportion tightly locked up inside their head and heart.
Regardless, the pulse of intrigue to discover the whole truth beats on nearly as strong today as it did when Walter Cronkite famously removed his black frame glasses fifty years ago to announce in a reserved shock that, “President Kennedy died at 1:00 p.m. central standard time.”
It’s an eerily surreal feeling. The bullet was fired from somewhere relatively close to President Kennedy’s motorcade and crowd of people. It was fired by someone, somewhere nearby, yet nobody definitively knows by who or specifically where this occurred?
Unbelievable.
Jimmy's Daily Planet 