On fireworks and perspective
Flying into Philadelphia tonight I saw fireworks, and it made me feel… something. Fireworks displays were never intended to be viewed from above. Such a simple twist of perspective changes the emotional impact of the colorful explosives significantly. What were once amazing barrages of light which filled the sky are reduced to a briefly flickering candle amongst a tangled web of brighter, more permanent headlights and streetlights.
It wasn’t only the visual perspective that changed. No, gone was the deafening boom of the concussive blasts. From 17,000 feet a fireworks display is a strictly silent affair. And the context changed as well. When you view the explosions from the ground you are aware of only the specific pyrotechnic production that you set up your lawn chair directly underneath. That piece of explosive art becomes your world. You experience the show ignorant to the fact that no more than 10 miles to the north a similar spectacle is being enjoyed by a group of people who are equally unaware of you. In the course of our decent I saw no less than 6 simultaneous displays spread throughout the city.
This hit me, hard. Maybe it’s because my birthday is the 4th of July and fireworks are inextricably linked to my identity for better or worse. Maybe it’s because I was in a particularly thoughtful state of mind today. Maybe it’s because I’ve never bothered to seek out this perspective before. Whatever the reason, my eyes filled with moisture that a manlier bloke might attribute to “allergies”. Now waiting in a half empty airport terminal, typing these words, those “allergies” continue to act up. As I said, seeing the fireworks caused me to feel something, something I can’t put into words.
My best attempt at description would be this, I feel small. Considering how tiny something as grandiose as fireworks can be rendered by a simple step back impresses upon me how utterly miniscule I am in comparison. I can imagine that such a realization might cause someone to feel lost, or insignificant. I don’t think that that was the emotional response that I experienced. Instead I feel comforted… awestruck but comforted. Words fail to describe my feelings completely without a long winded religious/theological discussion which I won’t burden you with right now. Suffice it to say I’m still working my way through it.
I hate you soo much Phil Collins!
Pharacon wrote:
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Happy Birthday, Good Sir!
Happy birthday!
Remember, only by treating everyone with dignity and respect can we maintain the element of surprise for that inevitable day when we wipe our enemies from the face of the Earth.
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I went through all that trouble to set up a fireworks show for your plane landing. See if I ever do anything for YOU again.
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Parody of yourself in color, giving it to everybody but your mother...
Awww... my brother's birthday is the 3rd of July and I always get him fireworks shows, too! The money I spend on him....
Also, happy birthday!
Also, I envy your viewing of 6 shows at once. Although I don't think I would feel quite the same way, that does have to be a somewhat humbling experience.
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Pouring rain here. We're inside watching Die Hard 4.
Fedaykin98 wrote:
wordsmythe wrote:
I'm jealous. I love looking down at the world as my plane ascends or descends, and being able to see fireworks from that perspective is a pretty unique experience.
Just be glad that the total perspective whatsit from The Hitchhiker Guide to the Galaxy isn't real. Seeing your significance on a universal scale is supposed to be devastating
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Coming full circle, if you're on the ground looking at the sky at night you'll realize how many worlds there must be out there . . .
And then your mind explodes and you play Doom until you forget about it.
Happy Birthday, LIKE IT MATTERS!
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Oh yeeees...join us on the post-modern dark side. Buy a telescope and your training will be complete. We shall call you Darth Zoidberg.
Rat Boy on Newlywed Ackbar wrote:
Thanks for all the birthday wishes. I got a chance to see a fireworks display from the intended perspective and I feel I was able to enjoy and appreciate the experience just as much, if not more, thanks to my new found perspective. I had been afraid I wouldn't be able to enjoy the show.
Thank you very much for the flattering offer, but I don't think that having a humble sense of place means that I'm unequivocally post-modern. Although I must admit I know very little about post-modernism. It is nice to know the offer is on the table though. But do I really need to get a telescope, I mean I might as well start calling myself Darth Nerdberg.
I hate you soo much Phil Collins!
Pharacon wrote:
PSN = AmazingZoidberg
Potentially stupid question: I always wondered how do the pyro guys design and test the fireworks to know how they're going to explode. Is it all done via software or do they actually do test runs and what not?
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Just tell me this doesn't blow your mind. And imagine that there are millions of others out there and that the light we are seeing from them is thousands to millions of years old. And we now think many, as many as 50% of all stars have planets orbiting them? And it only took 800 million years for basic life to evolve on Earth.
If modernism = it's all (eventually) comprehensible and under our control.
Post-modernism = it's all a matter of perspective and (ultimately) out of our control.
And with that, I'm off to bed.
Rat Boy on Newlywed Ackbar wrote:
Great site, but today's photo really blows my mind..
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Happy birthday and I hope you resolve the dilemma you are in. If you can find other people in your situation and listen to, or read, what they have to say it can help make you feel that you aren't on your own and can help to focus your thoughts.
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We watched the first two episode of "John Adams" tonight. Fitting. I may hate the things this country does at times, but I love the ideal.
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Ok, so yes that image is mindblowing, but ultimately less impactful than something closer to home. My mind lacks the capacity deal with the vastness of the universe in any meaningful way, in much the same way that the difference between 4 million and 5 million seems like it isn't that much. Since my mind cannot grasp very very large things they get reduced to managable chunks.
I think that is why the fireworks impacted me so much. They are something I am very familiar with, my mind is capable of readily understanding them. For that reason placing them in a broader context had a serious impact.
As to modernism/postmodernism, I don't think I'm a post-modernist because that seems to be largely based on a sort of relativeism. I believe that there are universal truths, laws and constants, but I don't think that humans are capable of completly understaning them.
Also Higgeldy, I wouldn't call it a dilema or crisis so much as a "moment of clarity." But again I would like to thank everyone for putting up with my ramblings. I definitely needed some sort of outlet.
I hate you soo much Phil Collins!
Pharacon wrote:
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