A very sad morning indeed. I went from tearing up over the beginning of last night's Nightline (sept 11 remembered), to crying over the afghan locals working for a Danish peace organization that were shot it the head in Afghanistan on Monday (more nightline), to momentarily freaking out about Ben being in Afghanistan (yes -- he's fine -- entry included below), to outright bawling at the news of Johnny Cash's death.

Anything else? Come on! Let it at me.

I'll pull it together because I have a lot of good stuff to bring you today...

from http://www.benhammersley.com, September 5, 2003

Ok, one final Afghanistan anecdote, which may only make sense to a Brit. One morning late in the week I had to get up really early in the morning, so I set the alarm on my shortwave radio to wake me with the BBC World Service. Come 430am, the radio kicks in. I lie there listening to news of Alastair Campbell’s resignation, and watching the sun rise through the crack in the dirt covering the windows, when suddenly the radio drops to static in mid-sentence. The World Service has dropped off the air.

Now, it’s early, I’m very tired, and not a little paranoid given where I am. Ah, shit, I think, London has gone. Al-Qaeda. It has to be. A day after my wife was due to arrive to see our bank, the city has gone - there can be no other explanation.

No, no, come on, I think. Tune around a bit - maybe the local transmitter has lost power. So I do: Voice of America is still there. The local music stations are still there. But no BBC. shit shit shit.

Nothing to do, I go to the bathroom and clean my teeth, run water through my hair and come back in and get dressed. Let’s try it again. Up and down the dial: everyone is there, no one is panicking. Right: to the BBC frequency.

Squeeeeeeeee Squeeeeee The radio goes mental - it’s like rubbing sheep with cheesegraters. Like a thousand nails on a blackboard. London is screaming.

What the hell is that? Sabotage? The effects of an EMP pulse? Major power spiking at Bush House? They’re all dead! What’s going on? Then….a voice…

“…I’ve always been partial to a bit of German techno…”

John Peel. That Bastard.