Wednesday, August 02, 2006
I've realised two things about this blog: It's almost the first thing to fall off my "things to do " list when I'm busy (the first thing, obviously, is any form of exercise). And I tend to write it when I'm angry or depressed about something in the news.
Now, that's not entirely a sign of bad psychological outlook on my part. The media bulge with bad news - usually predictions of doom for the future, or announcements of political developments that either bode ill for our future freedoms or lifestyles, or take as their foundation the worst assumptions about what we - that is, the citizens - would get up to if left to our own devices. Drinking standing up, for example, which apparently leads to fights, according to the authorities in Preston who want to enforce seated-only drinking in that city. Personally, I'm all in favour of seated drinking, as standing up just gives me backache and makes me wish I'd worn less glamorous shoes. But if guys want to prop the bar up so they can tell when they've had enough by falling over, that's also fine with me. I'd support a campaign that says you can only lean on the bar if you've got a nice arse, though.
But there I go again: sarcasm, the lowest form of humour after happy slapping.
So here goes - it's 508 years tomorrow since Christopher Colombus set sail, hoping to reach Asia and accidentally discovering America.
Let's leave aside the debate over whether this was a Good Thing for history (decimation of the less technological inhabitants vs. development that made the USA the world's most advanced country, etc. etc.). It's worth celebrating just to remind us that great things don't get done without being prepared to step into the unknown. The Apollo astronauts later admitted they all put their chances of getting safely to the Moon and back at around 50%. Christopher Colombus probably had worse odds than that. It's almost impossible to imagine how much safer, more comfortable, more convenient and affordable international travel has become on the last hundred years, never mind five hundred.
August 3rd 1954 - first VTOL aeroplane flew. That's Vertical Take-off and Landing. When you watch something like a Harrier fly along, stop, hover, fly backwards and then sit gently down on the runway, you realise how far human triumph over gravity has come in little over a century. Wright Brothers? Percy Pilcher's glider? With the aid of truly enormous, ear-splitting jet engines we can now pretty much re-write the laws of aerodynamics. For real gobsmacking, I-can't-believe-I'm seeing-this stuff, look out for the MiG with vector thrust, sticking its nose to the sky and shimmying along in mid-air like a performing dolphin. If only they made a beach-ball big enough to balance on that nose.
You beat yourself up over carbon footprints if you like. My grandparents left this country a grand total of once, when my Mum and I took them on a day trip to France. Mass travel is sheer, unadulterated social progress, and I won't be happy till everybody on this planet can move around it freely, unhindered by expense or border controls.
There I go, angry again. But still, I don't want to write a blog that sounds like one of those chain e-mails you're meant to send to ten fabulous women before breakfast. If you're not inspired by people who are prepared to risk their lives finding new continents or defying gravity on behalf of generations to come, I'm not really your type.
Now, that's not entirely a sign of bad psychological outlook on my part. The media bulge with bad news - usually predictions of doom for the future, or announcements of political developments that either bode ill for our future freedoms or lifestyles, or take as their foundation the worst assumptions about what we - that is, the citizens - would get up to if left to our own devices. Drinking standing up, for example, which apparently leads to fights, according to the authorities in Preston who want to enforce seated-only drinking in that city. Personally, I'm all in favour of seated drinking, as standing up just gives me backache and makes me wish I'd worn less glamorous shoes. But if guys want to prop the bar up so they can tell when they've had enough by falling over, that's also fine with me. I'd support a campaign that says you can only lean on the bar if you've got a nice arse, though.
But there I go again: sarcasm, the lowest form of humour after happy slapping.
So here goes - it's 508 years tomorrow since Christopher Colombus set sail, hoping to reach Asia and accidentally discovering America.
Let's leave aside the debate over whether this was a Good Thing for history (decimation of the less technological inhabitants vs. development that made the USA the world's most advanced country, etc. etc.). It's worth celebrating just to remind us that great things don't get done without being prepared to step into the unknown. The Apollo astronauts later admitted they all put their chances of getting safely to the Moon and back at around 50%. Christopher Colombus probably had worse odds than that. It's almost impossible to imagine how much safer, more comfortable, more convenient and affordable international travel has become on the last hundred years, never mind five hundred.
August 3rd 1954 - first VTOL aeroplane flew. That's Vertical Take-off and Landing. When you watch something like a Harrier fly along, stop, hover, fly backwards and then sit gently down on the runway, you realise how far human triumph over gravity has come in little over a century. Wright Brothers? Percy Pilcher's glider? With the aid of truly enormous, ear-splitting jet engines we can now pretty much re-write the laws of aerodynamics. For real gobsmacking, I-can't-believe-I'm seeing-this stuff, look out for the MiG with vector thrust, sticking its nose to the sky and shimmying along in mid-air like a performing dolphin. If only they made a beach-ball big enough to balance on that nose.
You beat yourself up over carbon footprints if you like. My grandparents left this country a grand total of once, when my Mum and I took them on a day trip to France. Mass travel is sheer, unadulterated social progress, and I won't be happy till everybody on this planet can move around it freely, unhindered by expense or border controls.
There I go, angry again. But still, I don't want to write a blog that sounds like one of those chain e-mails you're meant to send to ten fabulous women before breakfast. If you're not inspired by people who are prepared to risk their lives finding new continents or defying gravity on behalf of generations to come, I'm not really your type.
