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A Reminder Of What Is Truly Important
September 19th, 2001

After the events of the past days, it is impossible to conceive that a silly, frivolous column such as this could continue without a hitch. Comedy does not feel appropriate in the aftermath of one of the greatest tragedies our nation and the world has had to face. The United States of America has many victims to mourn, many heroes to cheer, and a long and winding road ahead of it. We could not write the column that we usually write. Not this time.

We will not attempt to say anything profound, or shed light on issues that, quite frankly, we are not capable of fully understanding. Others more qualified are doing just fine. And we promise that the next Idiots' column will be as sophomoric and, well, as Idiotic as ever. It's just that The Idiots are New Yorkers, and it is hard to...well, it is just hard.

My name is Gary and I am handling the writing duties for this particular column. This is nothing special, because Randy has done this for me many times. However, these are the most special of circumstances because we are both New Yorkers. I lived in the city for six years and have since moved back home to Texas, which leaves me very conflicted. I am very thankful not to be there, but I am terribly guilty that I am not there. My wife, Jennifer, worked at St. Vincent's Hospital, which became the main trauma unit in the aftermath of the terrorism. I can only imagine her dismay in the wake of the tragedy which now confronts her friends and co-workers. I do know it awakens her at night.

Randy still lives in New York City. How scary is that for his best friend and business partner to be writing at this time? The good news is that he and his wife, Kelli, were vacationing in San Diego at the time of the attack. I wonder how they feel about not being in Manhattan during this time, and whether relief or guilt is their strongest emotion. I don't know because, except for a very brief exchange late last week, I haven't heard from them. The last I heard, they were having to drive a rental car over three thousand miles to get home. To a home that will be forever different.

They will make it home safely, and our nation will find its way as well. In fact, I have no doubt that this will be our strongest hour.

Since Randy once asked me what the capital of Denver was, I am not sure when he and Kelli will get home, but I will get the call soon.

Our best to you all. See you next time.

Gary Randazzo
Randy Soare
The Idiots

Gary Randazzo and Randy Soare are the co-founders of IWS Interactive, a New York based game developer for Macintosh. The IWS in IWS Interactive stands for Idiots With Sticks. How that came about is a long and boring story, but suffice it to say that at four in the morning, it seemed like a good idea.

The demo for IWS Interactive's upcoming mystery-adventure game, Manhattan Apartment Hunter, has recently been released to rave reviews. The Idiots have been into gaming on Apple computers even before the Mac was around. Does anyone remember Choplifter on the Apple IIe? (Boy, we know we do.) Now, they are committed to help ensure that the Mac remains the premiere gaming platform on the planet.

You can email your comment and suggestions to Randy at , and Gary at .

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