Word: solemnization
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...anniversary of Sept. 11, I went to a candlelight vigil at the Weeks footbridge. Because a cold front was pushing summer air out to sea, it was windy. My candle guttered in its paper cup and dripped hot wax all over my shoes. Most people had green glowsticks, and, solemn and eerily illuminated, we all encircled a bagpiper who was squeezing out an asthmatic rendition of “Amazing Grace.” It looked like a rave party staged by Fellini...
...doubt," says a European diplomat, "that it would be better to do it in company." Thus Bush's speechwriters, before his U.N. appearance, were considering a heavy internationalist tone. ("He'll be Mr. Multilateral," says an aide.) The President is expected to remind the assembled leaders of their solemn duty to see that Iraq is forced to comply with U.N. resolutions passed in the aftermath of the Gulf War in 1991; Iraq, say the British, is presently in breach of 23 out of 27 obligations. But there will be a subtext. Bush's bottom line, says a senior Administration official...
Sometime last fall, the solemn words and silent vigils faded and the discourse of Sept. 11 began, offering little pause for the tragedy. I was lulled by hollow news reports and the kitschy “9-1-1” metaphor, whose appropriateness troubled me. Its simplicity befit the attacks themselves—large, uncomplicated and unsubtle...
...Giuliani then led the name-reading ceremony. Dignitaries such as Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Secretary of State Colin Powell, celebrities such as Robert DeNiro and family members of those who died carried on where Giuliani left off, as a string quartet provided a backdrop of solemn music...
...proclaimed that Sept. 11, 2002 and every subsequent Sept. 11 would be called Patriot Day. This announcement was not big news; The New York Times thought it was only worth A20 coverage. But the choice of Patriot Day really is shocking, because it distorts the focus of this solemn...