Apparently, Cho Seung-Hui wasn't as silent a killer as we thought - or hoped.
The Internet and television news networks a literally buzzing over the revelation that Seung-Hui , in between the first and second shootings at Virginia Tech, mailed NBC News a package containing what some have called a "multi-media manifesto" containing photos, videos and an 1800 word essay detailing his final act of brutality.
And while anybody who views these videos and photos or reads his ramblings will certainly and understandably be shocked and upset by what they see, can anybody say that they're truly shocked at the discovery of these materials?
Just when the news networks had packed up and headed home, leaving the students, faculty of Virginia Tech to heal in the aftermath of Seung-Hui's violent rampage, once again, that community, and to some degree the whole world, is once again victimized by one man's selfish, violent bid for immortality.
Not to diminish what's happened in any way, only as a means of putting things into a manageable context for no one but myself, the discovery Seung-Hui's words and images, 2 days after his one man act of terrorism -- smacks of nothing but pure cowardice... not unlike standing tall and talking shit over your shoulder as you walk away from a fight...
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Always The Quiet Ones...
Cho Seung-Hui... the Virginia Tech student who murdered his way to international fame was apparently a loner -- with severe emotional problems. Apparently nobody, save for one of his English professors saw the carnage and brutality of his rampage yesterday coming.
He was apparently a playwright... channeling his anger and frustration into vitriolic prose for the stage. You can read his violent, one-act play here
There is a certain morbid curiosity that bubbles up inside those of us who weren't directly affected by Seung-Hui's violent curtain call. As the days and weeks progress, we'll learn more about this twisted soul and try to discern what it was that drove him from his quiet isolation to explode so violently in front of so many.
And while pundits and politicians scramble to politicize and alter policy in a knee-jerk reaction to such violence, maybe there is something to be learned.
Seung-Hui, according to the Chicago Tribune, "left an invective-filled note in his dorm room that included a rambling list of grievances and died with the words "Ismail Ax" in red ink on the inside of one of his arms."
Conspiracisy buffs and scholars have jumped all over this little detail, pointing to possible links to Islam. (Because in America, if it's a senseless act of violence, it's got to be tied to Islam... )
Says one blogger:
"He may have been trying to write the name "Ishmael." Wikipedia notes: "The name has come to symbolize orphans, exiles, and social outcasts."
From Mission Islam:
"He left his father after he lost hope to convert him to the right path, and directed his efforts towards the people of the town, but they rejected his call and threatened him. By Allah, he said, I shall plot a plan to destroy their idols. He knew that a big celebration was coming soon, where everybody would leave town for a big feast on the riverbank. After making sure that nobody was left in town, Ibrahim went towards the temple armed with an ax. Statues of all shapes and sizes were sitting there adorned with decorations. Plates of food were offered to them, but the food was untouched. "Well, why don't you eat? The food is getting cold." He said to the statues, joking; then with his axe he destroyed all the statues except one, the biggest of them. He hung the ax around its neck and left. "
What was Seung-Hui trying to say? We'll never know. His inner turmoil forever silenced along with the lives and spirits of 33 innocents.
It's always the quiet ones.
He was apparently a playwright... channeling his anger and frustration into vitriolic prose for the stage. You can read his violent, one-act play here
There is a certain morbid curiosity that bubbles up inside those of us who weren't directly affected by Seung-Hui's violent curtain call. As the days and weeks progress, we'll learn more about this twisted soul and try to discern what it was that drove him from his quiet isolation to explode so violently in front of so many.
And while pundits and politicians scramble to politicize and alter policy in a knee-jerk reaction to such violence, maybe there is something to be learned.
Seung-Hui, according to the Chicago Tribune, "left an invective-filled note in his dorm room that included a rambling list of grievances and died with the words "Ismail Ax" in red ink on the inside of one of his arms."
Conspiracisy buffs and scholars have jumped all over this little detail, pointing to possible links to Islam. (Because in America, if it's a senseless act of violence, it's got to be tied to Islam... )
Says one blogger:
"He may have been trying to write the name "Ishmael." Wikipedia notes: "The name has come to symbolize orphans, exiles, and social outcasts."
From Mission Islam:
"He left his father after he lost hope to convert him to the right path, and directed his efforts towards the people of the town, but they rejected his call and threatened him. By Allah, he said, I shall plot a plan to destroy their idols. He knew that a big celebration was coming soon, where everybody would leave town for a big feast on the riverbank. After making sure that nobody was left in town, Ibrahim went towards the temple armed with an ax. Statues of all shapes and sizes were sitting there adorned with decorations. Plates of food were offered to them, but the food was untouched. "Well, why don't you eat? The food is getting cold." He said to the statues, joking; then with his axe he destroyed all the statues except one, the biggest of them. He hung the ax around its neck and left. "
What was Seung-Hui trying to say? We'll never know. His inner turmoil forever silenced along with the lives and spirits of 33 innocents.
It's always the quiet ones.
Monday, April 16, 2007
Unimaginable
The Virginia Tech tragedy. It's almost unimaginable. Or is it...
Just last week, the CBS drama "The Unit" featured this as their story:
"In Loco Parentis"
The Unit is called in to help out the local SWAT team when a prominent school inVirginia
Not that you need to relive the experience, as it continues to unfold live on CNN, but the entire episode is actually streaming on CBS' broadband channel, Innertube.
Just last week, the CBS drama "The Unit" featured this as their story:
"In Loco Parentis"
The Unit is called in to help out the local SWAT team when a prominent school in
Not that you need to relive the experience, as it continues to unfold live on CNN, but the entire episode is actually streaming on CBS' broadband channel, Innertube.
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Catching up with an overeaching underachiever...
Let's see... where do we begin?
Surely SOMETHING has happened to keep me away from the Chronicles.
Was it the beginning of a new swim training program designed to increase my paddling power for surfing?
I mean, I am up to 40 laps on my way to an eventually 100 lap swim, but that's probably not it. Although, I will say - I've noticed that I am paddling a bit harder when I'm out in the surf.
Maybe it was the recent South swell we recently enjoyed here in SoCal?
I mean, I managed to get out and get some waves for three days last week, but I also managed to find myself at the office idling my time away turning stories on everything from "The Sopranos" to the legacy of Rolling Stone magazine and DC Comics' "Wonder Woman."
It could've been "Marvel: Ultimate Alliance," a fiendishly addictive game for the Playstation that has cost me more than 19 hours of my life -- and continues to plague me as I struggle to find the means to defeat the diabolical Dr. Doom in the game's final...
It might be the song-writing and musical experimentation I've been working on. With 2 songs completed and a third bubbling away on my hard-drive, the largely electronic (for now) project has certainly taken up quite a bit of my time -- but again, I've also managed to find time to eat and bathe, so it's not quite a Mozartesque effort.
Then again, it might be the books and comics that I've been busying myself with -- including Chuck Palahniuk's "Diary" and Warren Ellis' wildly cool "New Universal," but I also have a girlfriend, so I haven't quite fallen into uber-nerd territory (unless I'm already too lost in my own world to see the forest for the trees).
Of course, it might just be case of general laziness, but where would I find the time for that?
Surely SOMETHING has happened to keep me away from the Chronicles.
Was it the beginning of a new swim training program designed to increase my paddling power for surfing?
I mean, I am up to 40 laps on my way to an eventually 100 lap swim, but that's probably not it. Although, I will say - I've noticed that I am paddling a bit harder when I'm out in the surf.
Maybe it was the recent South swell we recently enjoyed here in SoCal?
I mean, I managed to get out and get some waves for three days last week, but I also managed to find myself at the office idling my time away turning stories on everything from "The Sopranos" to the legacy of Rolling Stone magazine and DC Comics' "Wonder Woman."
It could've been "Marvel: Ultimate Alliance," a fiendishly addictive game for the Playstation that has cost me more than 19 hours of my life -- and continues to plague me as I struggle to find the means to defeat the diabolical Dr. Doom in the game's final...
It might be the song-writing and musical experimentation I've been working on. With 2 songs completed and a third bubbling away on my hard-drive, the largely electronic (for now) project has certainly taken up quite a bit of my time -- but again, I've also managed to find time to eat and bathe, so it's not quite a Mozartesque effort.
Then again, it might be the books and comics that I've been busying myself with -- including Chuck Palahniuk's "Diary" and Warren Ellis' wildly cool "New Universal," but I also have a girlfriend, so I haven't quite fallen into uber-nerd territory (unless I'm already too lost in my own world to see the forest for the trees).
Of course, it might just be case of general laziness, but where would I find the time for that?
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