Rising:Rebuilding Ground Zero

Did anyone happen to catch this show when it was on this past Thursday? It's a 2 part, 6 hour documentary (commercial free), of the building of the new Tower One. The 2nd 3 hours airs this coming Thursday, Sept 1 starting at 8 p.m. Eastern Time - on Discovery Channel.

I found it incredibly interesting and informative, and maybe too much so - giving unsavory elements more info than they should have. There were clips with the architect, engineers, job foremen, steel workers, the guys that pour cement, etc, etc. Those steel workers have incredible skill and nerves of steel, to work at such dizzying heights - walking across a steel beam hundreds of feet in the air, and without so much as a safety harness. :eek: The show followed the progress from the planning, to the start of construction, to the race against the elements and unforeseen glitches, to reach their goal of 1000' by the 10th anniversary. They had to build one story per week to obtain this goal, in spite of holdups, weather, etc. The final height will be over 1300' to the top floor, with an overall height of 1700+' which includes the antennae on the top, and is scheduled to be completed in 2013. Part of the show was also dedicated to viewing some of the contents of the 9/11 Museum at the site, and also interviews with relatives of fallen firemen.

If you are at all interested in this type of documentary, then you really should take the time to watch it - or at least record it to view later.

I was told once about the Mowhawk Indians working on tall structures as steelworkers....apparently they had no fear of heights.....but....read on...

"Do the Mohawks really have no fear of heights? Their employers think so, and the Indians themselves like to make out as though dancing on some I-beam 600 feet in the air is no more disruptive to their peace of mind than stepping off a curb. Edmund Wilson, who wrote several essays about the Iroquois for the New Yorker in the 1950s, quoted one modest steel jockey's claim that he had "an uncanny sense of balance," and attributed their skill to "their earlier life, from threading forests and scaling mountains, from canoeing in streams rough with rapids. A very important factor is undoubtedly their habit, in walking, of putting one foot in front of the other, instead of straddling, as we seem to them to do. They do not need to make an effort in walking a narrow beam."

Far be it from me to make light of this portrait of the noble red man, but there may be a simpler explanation: they do it because it's macho. Evidence on this point comes to us from anthropologist Morris Freilich, who published a solemn academic study on the subject in 1958. Ordinarily Cecil doesn't take this kind of thing too seriously, but in this instance was impressed by Freilich's impeccable research methodology: he spent his nights getting schnockered with the Mohawks at their favorite bar in Brooklyn.

One night when they were all drunk the Indians admitted they were scared fecal matter-less while iron hopping; they just didn't admit it because of the above-mentioned warrior ethic. (They didn't actually say "warrior ethic," of course; that was Freilich's take on it.) Freilich pointed out in his article that the Iroquois warrior tradition boiled down to going off with the boys to perform insane feats of bravery and generally raise hell, then coming home and boasting about your exploits. The warpath being no longer socially acceptable, steelwork was the next best thing. Sure, it's one of those silly male things."

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BUMP


Just a reminder or a heads up for anyone interested in watching or recording this. Airs on Discovery tonight at 8 Eastern & Pacific, check listings for Central or Mountain time.

It also airs on the Science Channel in it's entirety (6 hrs) on Sept 11 starting at 5 p.m.