Voyage of the Damned

Somewhere along the digital way, I stumbled on this picture of the members of the U.S. Figure Skating Team.  For some reason, it stopped me in my tracks, and it has haunted me ever since, mostly because, just like them, I didn't see what was coming next.
The date was February 14, 1961.  They were on their way to the World Figure Skating Championships in Prague. Look at their faces, every one of them full of hope.


Everyone is wearing their best clothes, except for the guy on the bottom step.  He's standing front and center, collar proudly open.  He is a maverick, both in sport and spirit. With that kind of confidence, he's at least three decades ahead of his time.


Look closer.  Notice the tall beauty holding the sign, and the man standing next to her.  He must be the coach, his face full of concern and angst.  The fairy dust long wore off that one.  


Further up the steps, we have the group comic who keeps the mood light.  That's him hiding behind the black rimmed glasses, with his hand extended in a Shakespearian gesture.  He is the original Drew Carey.  That hand seems as displaced as he secretly feels.


Over on the right, at the bottom of the steps, are what I originally thought of as the "love birds", but lately wonder if they weren't brother and sister.  She leans into him to remind herself that she is not alone.  He smiles, wondering if she can feel him shaking with fear and uncertainty.


Then there's the boy who tried to hide.  See there, on the left, between the beauty queen holding the sign and the girl on her right?  Just a half of a face, peaking over, as if he were an  uninvited guest.  His lost expression leads me directly to the girl with the corsage and curly hair standing directly above him.  Their aura's seem connected and I wonder if they sat together during the flight.  


So much emotion.  So very haunting.  Did they know what destiny beckoned?


The picture was taken at Idlewild International Airport in New York, before boarding a Sabena jet to Brussels.  The plane crashed on February 15,  near the airport at Brussels, killing all onboard.  So there you have it.

A Ride on the Metro with My Green Eyed Poet

Bus Route 29
by O'Connor Quaino


I
Yackers at the back - of the bus
A.M. people on the bean of choice
Cutting is the voice most imposed 
A colloquy, soliloquy, the hush
To rush and close
As each rank and file is deposed.
A clique a klatch of speech
This is a movable feast
And Who rides past their stop
To remain the weasel and not the pop?

II
Nook lookers quiet
As a mouse,
Their hobbies are secreted and mundane
Not so pedestrian their choise
To eschew the noise
Their overriding poise ever maintained.

III
Some are cheerful; some are glum
But no dead-beats on this run
Coifs are set 
and hair is wet
Boots and laces
Done up for the day
Social graces
All but zipped away.

IV
In his turn, the driver—
Never more than stern--
Takes a jam or hops a curb in stride--
Our roles are set as distance met
And, oh, no transfers honored on this ride.

Brandon and the Japanese Tsunami

hey brendan, what u doing?

nuttin, working on getting this Oct 7th kry kids show set up, and sending invites

how's it going?

i just got one!

GREAT!

i want to chat u up, but want to wait till you have time

about ur japan trip

oh right

how were you thinking of doing it, like facebook chat, or..?

yeah, i just want to ask u a few questions

what month did all this happen?

MARCH

3.11.11

what airport did u fly into?

Tokyo Narita airport

did the earthquake strike while you were in the air?

apparently the BIG one did, i think.. but we felt one right AFTER landing; aftershock i guess

so it was literally happening during our approach, and taxiing on runway

i'm still uncertain when the REAL big one was, but we thought we were getting off the plane until literally RIGHT as we were taking off our seatbelts; that's when the captain came on the speaker and ordered us to stay in our seats!

was ur brother supposed to meet you at the airport?

No, i was supposed to travel to downtown Tokyo by train after getting off the plane

where u stranded at the airport?

yes, for over 24 hours

once you left the airport, where did you go?

BANGKOK!!!!!!!!

how did u get there?

tell me when you're tired

a Delta flight out of Narita

okay

we can do this in installments

when u got to bangkok, did you have to go through customs again

um.. i think so

god, it's hard to remember!

once in bangkok, where did u stay?

someday u'll be glad i wrote this, for your grandkids!

ahh! yes i suppose

um, we stayed at my brother's girlfriend's house, which is in north Bangkok

it just so happened that my bro was/is dating a thai girl!

wow

how did u finally find ur brother?

well, since i couldn't leave Narita by train, i had to wait for him to come to ME

were you able to call him on your cell phone?

being a native of Tokyo for the past 10 years, he was able to navigate his way there, tho it took some time; i think he took like three local trains

Tokyo-Narita Express train was inoperable, which is the standard way to make that trip

no, no cell service

wow, so some trains were running

i actually spoke w/ my parents back home in Cinci via a long-distance landline call BEFORE i talked to my bro; i didn't hear his voice until the next morning

yeah, i guess SOME trains were...

did u just have to have faith that he would find you?

well, we relayed msg's via my parents; he told THEM to tell ME to stay at Narita, and by God he would get there!!! And he did

there was a cyber-terminal at Narita too, so we did a little facebookin' once i got on there

Facebook was a VERY VALUABLE tool in all of this, by the way, although the good old-fashioned pay phone is still indispensible

all the more reason to be annoyed that they're becoming more scarce; people figure cell phones will always be there for them but they sometimes won't

so really, that 24 hours, plus the time landing, which must have been intense, was the real crisis?

yes, exactly... once we got to Bangkok we were home-free, and had an awesome thai paradise vacation with two lovely ladies! but the shadow of the japan disaster hung over us, and was kind of eerie

i mean, i was able to forget and still have fun, but we kept checking the news and my bro would occasionally get calls on his iphone like from his boss or friends back in japan

did you bond with a stranger in the 24 hours

we got to see it thru the thai eyes; they were already planning benefits for japan and such!

well, thai's know about tsunami

um, i did, yes... a few passing strangers. like the japanese/american boarding school student in the plane seat next to me who was on spring break, or this japanese family camped out on the airport floor next to me that night

Whew! my carpal tunnel is flairing up; shall we break until next time?

9:14pm

yes, i know exactly where we left off

good job

THANKS!

talking to u soon

xxxooo

ok cool