Middle East Conflicts Wall War Memorial, Marseilles, Illinois

Watch it grow!

 

Land for the project donated by Illinois Valley Cellular, and it is beautiful riverside area too. Additionally Cellular built a museum to house the many artifacts left there, in reaction to them being discarded vandalized even thrown in the river. 

Jerry Kuczera and Tony Cutrano 

Today is the first I've heard of this project. Cheering. Mostly the urgency finding expression immediately gets me. Without slipping into diatribe about the slowness of monolithic distant government engaged in their own thing, still I still cannot help entertaining an alternate project starting from Washington and what that would look like, by seeing this before with the Vietnam memorial and Freedom Tower in NY,  how such a thing would proceed, how architects and artists are chosen, contracts dispersed, location chosen, even which country builds it, out of what material, the exact  placement, environmental impact, and all the attendant things I cannot think of, not dismissing the result just briefly entertaining an alternate federal project to this organic expression, because I cannot help it. 

Conversely, this is as if watching forest ants suddenly joining together in mass and doing something different apart from the usual doings, for some reason, some urgency. It is exciting. The way it comes about is exciting.

The usual thing failed or is failing or is too slow or otherwise unsatisfactory.

Having said that, I think, a good part of the descending mob aspect of it has to do with already owning a motorcycle and a desire, a strong desire, to do something useful. There you are with your motorcycle, what do you do with it? Ride around on it, of course, go places. It's fun. Pick up a few things load up the bags vrooom vrooom vroooom off you go, it'a good day. Then what? While enjoying the freedom of cycling and all that goes into sustaining that freedom, what purposeful meaningful thing can be done? And even if you are not  thinking such things, when offered, the whole effort sounds great because it does give meaning. Boom. Crowd of motorcyclists. Just like that. 

I have to say Illinois sure is interesting.

My son always wanted to own a motorcycle so when he was deployed to Afghanistan he told me when he come home he's gonna buy one. And he didn't come home. And so we bought one for him and had his pictures painted all over it and now we ride him everywhere. It's all in honor and memory of him and we ride it everywhere to all these events just so the world will remember and love our heroes because our soldiers are our true heroes in America ... They give their todays for our tomorrows.

Hang on, here comes a sharp turn. I risk flipping off the rails.

Aberdeen Washington is setting up a memorial for Kurt Cobain. I do not have a problem with a memorial to Curt Cobain, it is a good thing, he is famous after all, but by way of contrast it is offered.

Aberdeen Washington acknowledges Kurt Cobain had a big impact on music. It's something. They're avoided acknowledging him as a product of their town until now due to the heroin  thing and the suicide thing, two things there difficult to celebrate, still he had a big impact on music.

Shhh.

Don't shhh me.

Tourism.

The woman in the second video who lost a son and drives around a motorcycle that her son wanted, not her, and with his picture on it to take him in spirit all over the place frankly breaks my heart. Aberdeen have you no such heroes to acknowledge? My google-fu is just awful tonight I'm getting all sorts of anti-war things. ["aberdeene washington" iraq afghanistan died] I see that there are. But there is no such organic urgency in Aberdeen for a thing as happens in Illinois. 

Critique. Video marred by bagpipes. Sorry, Scotland, it just is. Amazing Grace on bagpipes at funerals makes all three things worse, song, bagpipe, service.