Bizzare Coincidence....

Post Reply New Topic

Our [USA] investigators have named the suicide bomber who set off an explosive inside of his Winnie [RV/camper], blasting apart a city block in Downtown Nashville, Tennessee [around 210 KM or 131 miles from my home] early on Christmas morning [local time]. While three innocent citizens were injured, nobody else died largely due to a fifteen minute warning from the vehicle itself telling everyone to evacuate the area [accompanied by a recording of Petula Clark’s 1960′s hit song “Downtown”]; and the explosion also knocked out the AT&T servers covering the cellular service of millions [including yours truly and at least one local friend] who were subsequently unable to make or receive any phone calls for over two days thereafter.

Petula Clark- Downtown [just because, this is a brilliant song I’ve loved for most of my life]:

Right around the exact moment of the Nashville explosion, my mother and I were just finishing up the great 1942 Warner Brothers film, “Larceny Inc.” starring Edward G. Robinson, Jack Carson, Jane Wyman, and Anthony Quinn. [spoiler alert] The film [more or less] ends with Anthony Quinn’s character “Leo” detonating a bomb to break into a bank vault in New York City on Christmas Eve.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larceny,_Inc.

The name of the suicide bomber in Nashville was Anthony Quinn Warner. I am a published author, but one simply can’t make this stuff up. Even more chilling, the fellow’s photograph is EERILY familiar. If asked, I would say that I might have known this fellow, though I cannot remember from where [I am from New Orleans, but have lived here for almost fifteen years]. Before the pandemic, I was a local bartender and I am quite an extrovert, it is not unlikely that I once met him [or perhaps even a relative of his?] though his name is not familiar to me [beyond simply the Warner Brothers film with Anthony Quinn]. I am wondering if there was a glitch in the Matrix... they’ve changed something.... :-/

This is the third thread related to the subject of the Nashville Bombing.

The other two threads are Here and Here.

Anthony Quinn is known for other movies besides that one.

But that is curious how Anthony Quinn was in a Warner Brothers movie in which he blows up a building, on Christmas Eve. Maybe Anthony Quinn Warner was a fan of the movie.

But why play that Petula Clark song? The lyrics encourage folks to hang out "down town". The opposite of what his warning message was...which was to get the heck OUT of downtown or you will die.

You would think he would have played this song:

Last edited by naturalplastic on 28 Dec 2020, 3:18 pm, edited 3 times in total.

Dear DeepBlueSouth,
131 miles from the blast?
You must be a nervous wreck!
And no phone service!?
This MUST be your worst Christmas; I hope you have not experienced a worse one!!

If I was working the morning of September 11, 2001, instead of being on the night shift, I would have been less than a mile from the site of the Twin Towers destruction.

"Forget all of troubles, forget all of your cares, and go down town"

I guess THATS why he played that particular song.

It was also because it was done in "Downtown Nashville."

Okay, then. I felt that a personal story about a random coincidence was appropriate for "Random Discussion" [by definition, what isn't...?]; also I avoid the news and politics forums here [and those who haunt them] like the plague, those forums [and the divisive politics] are most of the reason why I stay away from Wrong Planet altogether.



For sure, I mean it's not really even an Anthony Quinn movie per se, it was more of a supporting role for him.



Interesting to think about, eh...? And for me to be watching that particular scene in that particular film when all of that happened is most definitely the single most interesting thing that has happened to me in well over a year.



Honestly, the two weeks preceding it were among the worst holiday seasons I've had. Nowhere to go, no friends around, no job... just like Xmas 2005 in New Orleans after Katrina. Most of the month, especially having been pressed to decorate the entire house by my mom [I just wanted to do the tree, nothing else, wound up throwing my back out and injuring my right shoulder, but they're both better now], has just been flashback after flashback.... But the holiday itself wasn't bad. I cooked an amazing traditional spread: turkey, cornbread dressing and mac & cheese from scratch, green bean casserole, and mom's candied yams. Also, the Saints played a brilliant football game, which was very enjoyable. It did kind of suck that I wasn't able to talk to anyone else, but that's just part of being unemployed and living in the southeast most of the time for me [even before the pandemic].

Truth be told, it was the lack of cellular service [though I did retain internet and television] which made me seek out the reason for the outage in the first place. We found out about the incident about 12 hours after it all happened. Honestly, since the holiday included no arguments, no hurricanes or floods or tornadoes, no police, and no other family members [we've had out of state family members call the police on us one Christmas Day a few years back]; the day itself really didn't have any triggers for me. On the 23rd there were two attempted shootings in the southeast: one at a WalMart near Knoxville, and another at a department store [which one of my closest friends works at] right outside of New Orleans. The southeast is just a wonderful part of the world, lemme tell ya. At least there wasn't any catastrophic weather or any heatwaves on top of everything else.



Not THAT'S serendipity!! I am glad you were lucky enough to be away by first shift. I've always been a big fan of dense urban areas, and I hope to Jah that I don't always live in this noisy homogenous neighbourhood in the middle of nowhere, but the closest I've ever come to NYC was Patterson, NJ and the raw, human energy coming from that city was palpable. I could feel it in the air like an oncoming thunderstorm. I admire the hell out of New Yorkers and their resilience and can't imagine living in a place around quite that many other people. Did you grow up in the city, or were you from elsewhere?

What seems more likely is that the bomber purposely arranged these alleged coincidences ahead of time.  I speculate that he selected the Petula Clark song either because it was one of his favorites, or because of the irony of the lyrics when juxtaposed against his planned location of the explosion, thus making the alleged "coincidence" not so bizarre after all!

This makes more sense than any convoluted metaphysical "theories".

The Petula Clark song wasn't part of any coincidence, I just mentioned it because I really like that song.
[sarcasm] Yet, I wonder how the bomber knew that we would be watching a recording of "Larceny Inc." on Christmas morning when he set off the device....[/sarcasm]

Deep Blue South - Good to see you again. I think your topic is sufficiently different from the others to merit its own thread. It certainly is an interesting coincidence. The whole incident is crazy and even if a "reason" is discovered, I am not sure that people who act out this way are capable of any reasoning as we know it.

I loved that Petula Clark song too. Even though I do not like cities.

I was born in Manhattan, raised in the Bronx and Queens. Still live in Queens (though close to Nassau County---so it's "semi-suburban," and you pretty much need a car to get around).

Paterson, NJ is a city that's been down on its luck for a number of years. But it does have much history. William Carlos Williams wrote a poem called "Paterson." And it has a famous waterfall. And there are many other things about Paterson that are interesting.

Thank you! I appreciate the greeting and the kind words. Part of why I hadn't been around is that I've very little to say these days. It's somehow been a long year which still seems to have flown by somehow... Never experienced anything like 2020, but sure I'm in good company [none of us have]. I was on the phone yesterday with both my local friend, and an old friend from New Orleans for three and four hours respectively. It was nice to just talk, though none of any of us had much to catch up on [2020 has been personally uneventful for us whilst simultaneously keeping us all somewhat busy]. Seriously, 2020 is a four letter word, to be sure. Hope all is well for you out there, stay healthy and stay safe! B-)



To an interested outsider, Queens has always seemed [to me] to be like a traditional sort of 20th century American suburb, though I didn't know it was far out enough to require one's own car. We were blessed in suburban New Orleans with lowkey, but adequate, public transportation. It wasn't fancy, but one could commute with only a bus and/or bicycle to most places on the same side of the river [provided enough time was available for transfers]. Is Queens closer to the Bronx than the other boroughs?



Fascinating stuff. I was only in town for a championship soccer match [Chattanooga Football Club lost, lol, but the trip was still a lot of fun], but I will have to research the poem and the waterfall. The only places I've ever seen interstate highways that wide have been in Houston, Atlanta, and Los Angeles. The elevated light rail infrastructure was quite impressive. I have never seen a full stadium empty that quickly before or since [fewer than nine minutes]. I'll never forget the various views of the NYC skyline in the distance. Chicago is the only city I've ever seen with at least that many high rises. I've been to or through 36 states, half a dozen national parks, but it will always be among one of the most beautiful sights I've ever beheld. Stay healthy, stay safe and bless you all. <3