 Tuesday, 4 March 2003
 Pentagon Memorial
One more Post article, about the just-unveiled memorial for Pentagon casualties. I think it's a good one.
The Pentagon's Path of Memory: 'Light Benches,' Sylvan Setting Honor Those Who Died on 9/11 [Washington Post]
Conceived by Julie Beckman, 30, and Keith Kaseman, 31, a pair of architects not many years out of graduate architecture school at Columbia University... Called "Light Benches," the design is composed of 184 16-foot-long benches, arranged in parallel rows under clusters of maple trees on the nearly two-acre site.
This identification of site and event is further intensified by linking each bench with an individual victim, whose name is to be incised on the narrow end face of a bench. The chronology of the rows -- they are to be sequenced by year of birth -- adds another level of pathos. In traveling the distance from youngest to oldest -- from 3 to 71 -- visitors will comprehend something important about that day.
Probably the most unusual aspect of the design is the shape of the benches, which the designers refer to as "memorial units." Rather than the conventional long seat with supports at two ends, these resemble diving boards, with a rigid cantilevered seat extending about six feet from a heavy base. Underneath the cantilevered seat of each bench will be a narrow pool of water.
Because the open-ended form gives a sense of directionality to these benches, the shape allows the designers to add another layer of information about the event. Benches identified with occupants of the plane will face in one direction, and those representing people in the Pentagon at the time of the attack will face another direction. The photo (rendering) of it gives a good idea of what it'll be like. (The 'people' in it threw me, though; those are supposed to be pedestrians, not pieces of the memorial.)
Washington gossip Gossip columns aren't my favorite, but Lloyd Grove produced a good one today:
Doctor McLaughlin's Trash Talk [Washington Post]
John McLaughlin.. devoted much of last weekend's "McLaughlin Group" and all of "John McLaughlin's One on One" to trashing the D.C. government and suggesting that home rule be suspended.
Yesterday Williams's communications director, Tony Bullock, told us he thinks he knows why...: Immediately after the blizzard, city officials didn't grant the TV host preferential treatment when minions for "Dr. McLaughlin," as they refer to their boss, repeatedly phoned and demanded that a snowplow be deployed to McLaughlin's residential street in the pricey Massachusetts Avenue Heights neighborhood... "Dr. McLaughlin jumped up and down to have special accommodations for him at a time when we were transporting the police officers and medical personnel for people who needed emergency attention. This was an astonishing fit of petulance and personal pique."
On "The McLaughlin Group," panelists Tony Blankley and Eleanor Clift answered the host's blasts with a stout defense of the District's snow-removal performance. And panelist Pat Buchanan noted, "John, what I conclude is that they did not dig you out until Friday, is that correct?"
I haven't watched McLaughlin in a very long time. He's just too much of a maroon.
Grove also summarizes an article in TelevisionWeek about newsmakers' behavior behind the scenes. Here's the full article; fun for Beltway watchers: D.C. Talkers: Our 2nd Annual Survey: Washington's Best & Worst Newsmakers [TV Week]
Least Likely to Make News: "overly cautious" Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge.
Highest Maintenance: National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice and "anybody with a security contingent."
Looks Most Like Patient in Dentist's Chair: Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C.
Fastest Disappearing Act: Former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott
TV Week is new to me. Looks like I could waste a lot of time there, though.
Buffy's done Buffy is officially ending this season. [Washington Post; last item in article] But:
UPN is in talks with creator Joss Whedon about a possible "Buffy" spinoff.
1 comment(s)
The entertainment industry isn’t the world it should be. It is too often a cruel and mindless place – one that would overwhelm us all if not for the Champions. For there are born into each generation those few brave and creative souls who act as if this world were the way it should be, in order to show it what it can be. Their path is not an easy one. Gifted with intelligence, imagination and an artistic vision that transcends those of lesser mortals these Champions are opposed and challenged at every turn. Sometimes isolated and sometimes very much alone, our unsung hero’s courageously fight the forces of evil mediocrity and their minion. But now it has come to pass that the last axe has been swung, the last dagger has been thrown, the final stake has been thrust and an industry has been shown the best that television can be. Sadly, we witness the end of the six year arc of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. As the colors of this shimmering rainbow disperse there is a growing anxiety over what might rise out of the darkness of the television void. But perhaps last Tuesday night was not an ending but the promise of a new beginning. The vampires of this world have been dusted, its evil gods have been vanquished and each sunrise can herald a new day filled with new possibilities. For if it was done once it can be done again and again. The way has been made clear for all who could, to follow. Here’s to our Champions who really showed them and showed them good. Thank you Joss for fighting the good fight. Never leave us! Thank you Marti & David and all the great writers, producers, set designers and computer effects geniuses. Thank you Sarah, Nicholas, Alyson and Anthony. Thank you Michelle, James, and Emma. You have truly entertained and inspired us. You have been our CHAMPIONS! Let it never be forgot, that once there was a spot – called Sunnydale!
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