As requested I am going to think of something I like and write about it…

I almost touched on something I like during my Paddington station post, engineering projects such as that amaze me, but I can’t do that again so it needs to be something else….

This is genuinly difficult, so many things I love but nothing that is a bit original and personal to me…I like sleeping in, I like the countryside, I like cold nights and waking up with someone you love, the internet, music & movies but that’s not exactly blog material even if it is a shit blog like this.

I guess I will talk about things I like or admire that aren’t appreciated as much as they should be!

The Internet: This is such a huge point so I will try to keep my thoughts to a minimum. If you want to know anything, about anything, you can find it. If you want to speak to anyone, anywhere in the world, you can. It has made the world a smaller place and thanks to that we have become more understanding of other cultures and people. I am not saying that the net hasn’t caused it’s fair share of problems, but as a whole you will find that thanks to it, people have discovered new truths, found friendship and created a new world full of free thought and free expression. Designed for the free exchange of ideas and new discoveries between universities I believe it has done that and much much more.

Music: Such a predictable subject yet I don’t think a lot of people really realise how much music affects their everyday lives. For me personally a song can make me happy, sad or sum up totally an experience or memory. Many times in the past music has changed my outlook on my life and there aren’t many mediums that can have such a MASSIVE affect on people. I defy anyone to listen to a truly sad song and not feel sad or just feel empathy, without empathy I think the world would be lost... “Music hath charms to soothe a savage beast, to soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak.” William Congreve – Old willie man had it bang on, we should apreciate and be, not wary, but attentive to something that can so dramatically change who we are and the world we live in.

Isambard Kingdom Brunel: I found this passage on a website celebrating 200 years of brunel’s work, it sum of my admiration for him in much better words than I could.

He successfully applied his considerable knowledge and limitless imagination to the new opportunities offered by a technologically advancing age, opening up the world of global travel and communications, and making great leaps forward in the development of all aspects of engineering. It was this that contributed to Britain’s unrivalled international standing in the latter half of the nineteenth century.

Yet, despite his achievements, Brunel was often faced with
disappointment and his early death could be partly attributed to the stress of taking on such huge commitments. He serves as an example of both the advantages and dangers of brilliant, driven people taking full responsibility for every phase of their projects. A closer examination of his work also reveals the hidden costs of such fierce ambition in the lives of workers killed on the job and the financial ruin of some of his backers. The detrimental side effects of the Industrial Revolution have been well documented.

Brunel’s significance today is two fold. First, there is his lasting
engineering legacy, visible in the bridges, tunnels, viaducts, buildings and rail routes he left behind. Second, is the example he has set for the engineers and innovators who followed him and who are inspired to translate their creative thought into action.

I only wished that there were more people like Brunel in today’s society, pushing the technological and engineering world forward, but sadly not. We live in an age where function and form aren’t married any more, they had a messy divorce long ago when architects and engineers teamed up with their bent little safety hats and clipboards drawing rain drops on leaves, then simply putting in a door and some steps. Long gone are the days where they would be in the thick of the action with the men building the monuments to the modern world, showing the world how great Britain was. Buildings 200 times too big, that were there for a reason and still are.

I was going to talk about how much I love the spirit of people during WWII but I think that’s getting a bit too cliché and superfluous, we all know how incredible their sacrifice was and sadly they are being repaid by getting stabbed by 12yr olds but none of that, I will save that for another post…

I think when it all boils down, I love the world that we COULD have lived in. I can’t remember who said it but ever since hearing it I’ve been reminded of it…”The world  is unquestionably beautiful, from the sun rise, the waves on the oceans and the veins on a leaf, we live in an Eden upon our Earth…the blame for it’s ills is placed solely on the human race for we know that simply by being here we can only make the world an uglier place.”

I believe this profound guilt we all have, forces our race to do terrible things, sadly the guilt of being alive is one we all have to bare, but by creating beauty, whether it be art or music or just letting someone know they are loved we can all feel slightly less guilty about the horrors we have unleashed on the planet just by being alive.

I’d appreciate any comments you have on any of this, got a bit much towards the end but I find if I think about things for an extended amount of time I tend to talk all kinds of shit.