A Moment of Pause - Remembering Those Lost on 07-20-12
 

I wanted to take a moment and deviate from the normal schedule of things here to reflect on the horrific and tragic events that transpired early Friday morning in Aurora, Colorado. There is a point to be made at the end of all this, so please bear with me.

Only 20 minutes in to what some people would consider their most anticipated movie of all time, Batman The Dark Knight Rises, an individual (I choose not to use his name) exitted and re-entered the theater and began opening fire. 71 people would be injured and 12 of them would die, others still in critical condition. This event hits hard at home for me. For those who don't know more about me than just my screen name here, I have lived in Colorado for 22 years now. I was a junior in high school when the tragic events of the Columbine shootings happened. The Century 16 movie theater is a mere 15 minutes from where I call home. I even saw a movie in at that theater, in theater number nine where the shootings happened, earlier this year.

A dear close friend of mine (one of the hosts on the popular Reel Nerds podcast, a weekly podcast all about movies) lost a friend yesterday. He was celebrating his birthday with a midnight showing of his most anticipated movie. His wedding anniversary was soon to follow (one year). His last tweet before he died was how excited he was for this movie, and that it was going to be the best birthday ever.

What I'm trying to say is ... for those of you who don't live in Colorado, I can understand how distant this tragedy seems. But think about this - who goes to midnight showings of comic book super hero movies? You do. I do. Some of our best friends do. Our loved ones do. This tragedy could have happened any where, and any of us could have lost a loved one.

So please, at some point today, take a moment to pause. Maybe look up the list of the victims who have passed away and read their stories. Find out who they were. And pause to remember them.

Thank you for allowing me my soapbox moment. We now continue with all things Toku.

RIP to all the poor souls who lost their lives that night. When I found out what happened, I looked at every article I could, just in case any friends I have over there might have been involved.

Honestly Kick alot of us were worried about you. Knowing how close you were to this, I'm glad to know you're alright. My codolences to all those who lost someone in this tragedy. There is no excuse for the terror that man caused.

RIP to those who died in this tragic incident.

We're all happy you're alright KickBack. It's never easy hearing that a friend or a loved one is taken away from you in a senseless act of violence. The worse part of this is so many people are living in fear right now because of the actions of one sick man. Hopefully justice will be done and he never harms another person as long as he lives.

RIP :(

Hear hear, a moment of silence for the victim of this senseless tragedy, and condolences to their families.

RIP to those lost. :(

Why? Why kill so many people? Why? What was the motivation? What did this solve? Why?

R.I.P. To all who died. And happy belated birthday to anyone who went there for there birthday. You deserve your happiness.

My prayers go to those families to lost their loved one in this unexpected tragedy.

My condolences for the friends, relatives, and loved ones of the victims. And Kickback, I'm sorry to hear about your friend's friend. :(

I'm very sorry to hear about your friend, Kick. But at the same time I'm so very damn happy you're alright. My family and I have been praying, and will continue to. For your friend and everyone else who was lost.

Condolences out to those affected.

Just makes one realize about those 6 degrees of separation...any action one does can affect many more...the guy was sick, and Kickback, my best to your friend and to all affected....

Man, that's heavy, lest we forget...

I had a lot of rage yesterday when I first heard about it. How could this happen? Why did this happen? So many unanswered questions.

But I realized it would be what the shooter wanted, and instead now I try to remember those that passed and continue to pray for those that are recovering.

RIP to those that left us too early.

Tragedies like these proves that we won't know what will happen in our daily lives, so be careful and stay safe.
My heart goes out to the victims and their families.

This need to be said. Thank you.

Needless-to-say, it was a horrifying incident that should have never taken place. I hope the shooter gets what he deserves. In the mean time, I sincerely hope that the family and friends, etc. of the victims can find some sense of peace.

All the way from Singapore here. I heard about the incident after watching the said movie on a similar timeslot. All the feelings I had about the movie turned dull when I heard about it. These were our people: nerds, geeks, casual movie-goers, trolls and haters, purist fanboys and girls. It really struck me hard that this happened in our community and my heart goes out to the families of the victims that have suffered this tragedy. It should never have happened to anyone.

I live right down the street from the theater, and go there all of the time. If it wasn't for me having a job interview Friday morning, my g/f and I were going to go to the midnight showing.

It's so scary how close you were to being in danger.

It goes to show how relatable this whole tragedy is. I see tragedy in the news all the time, but this really strikes home because it is something I can definitely imagine happening to me. I'm really sorry for all the victims and their families and will keep them in my prayers.

Wow, Dr. Kain, having to go to that job interview may in fact have saved your life. It's a good thing you and your gf are safe - two fewer casualties for this horrific event.