Beaconsfield
No, this is not the name of the latest follow up hit to 'Smallville' or 'Desperate Housewives'. It is a small goldmining town in Tasmania, Australia which has had worldwide attention on it for the past fourteen days as Todd Russell and Brant Webb fought for survival, 1km under the earth's surface after a rock fall. This small town is also the last place saomeone might re kindle their faith in humanity.
I woke up at 6:30am on a 'cold' Brisbane morning to get ready for work and did something I havent done in a long time, I turned the TV on to find these two men emerge from that goldmine after 14 days. To see the elation, the relief and triumph that these men had on their faces and in their body language raised two interesting issues for me, one good and one bad.
1. I wont dwell on this one, but it was almost as if these men felt as though they had 'defeated' mother nature, in the form of a rock fall which is a natural occurence and almost expected when mining, an unnatural activity to engage in with the planet is occurring. I found it interesting that these men had that mentality and reaction.
2. This is the one which hit me straight away. Within seconds of seeing these pictures, which plastered all television stations in Australia, I had tears in my eyes. The jubilation, the power of the human spirit of this town to band together, stop their lives (as if their own existence was nothing compared to these guys being given the chance to resume their lives as normal) and quit being so selfish and liberal for one monent in their lives to see that these two men, of whom not everyone would have known, return to 'the surface'.
I went to work, and the Foo Fighters new song 'No Way Back' came on the radio and the announcer said that Dave Grohl, FF Frontman would pay for both of the men to fly anywhere in the world to see them play a concert. I was like 'WTF?', I mean I have always been a fan of Dave Grohl because of his music ability but I was again, in tears. How embarassing, that an event which I had had very little to do with over the course of the two weeks was now making me cry! I have out it down to the power of the human spirit which we do not see enough of, this town banded together behind these guys, praying, cheering, wishing and hoping for them to come out safe and able to resume their lives as normal.
You know the human race has been and will in future be responsible for some pretty fucked up shit, but it is showing of human emotion and spirit that really hammers home the fact that I believe the things I believe: the human race is worth keeping around. Things such as this, plus other things like, well, Love for example, are worth saving and are worth fighting for. I hope I can look back on times like this when I am feeling a little hopeless and get back on my feet again.
Azz H.
I woke up at 6:30am on a 'cold' Brisbane morning to get ready for work and did something I havent done in a long time, I turned the TV on to find these two men emerge from that goldmine after 14 days. To see the elation, the relief and triumph that these men had on their faces and in their body language raised two interesting issues for me, one good and one bad.
1. I wont dwell on this one, but it was almost as if these men felt as though they had 'defeated' mother nature, in the form of a rock fall which is a natural occurence and almost expected when mining, an unnatural activity to engage in with the planet is occurring. I found it interesting that these men had that mentality and reaction.
2. This is the one which hit me straight away. Within seconds of seeing these pictures, which plastered all television stations in Australia, I had tears in my eyes. The jubilation, the power of the human spirit of this town to band together, stop their lives (as if their own existence was nothing compared to these guys being given the chance to resume their lives as normal) and quit being so selfish and liberal for one monent in their lives to see that these two men, of whom not everyone would have known, return to 'the surface'.
I went to work, and the Foo Fighters new song 'No Way Back' came on the radio and the announcer said that Dave Grohl, FF Frontman would pay for both of the men to fly anywhere in the world to see them play a concert. I was like 'WTF?', I mean I have always been a fan of Dave Grohl because of his music ability but I was again, in tears. How embarassing, that an event which I had had very little to do with over the course of the two weeks was now making me cry! I have out it down to the power of the human spirit which we do not see enough of, this town banded together behind these guys, praying, cheering, wishing and hoping for them to come out safe and able to resume their lives as normal.
You know the human race has been and will in future be responsible for some pretty fucked up shit, but it is showing of human emotion and spirit that really hammers home the fact that I believe the things I believe: the human race is worth keeping around. Things such as this, plus other things like, well, Love for example, are worth saving and are worth fighting for. I hope I can look back on times like this when I am feeling a little hopeless and get back on my feet again.
Azz H.
2 Comments:
Always one to be controversial and/or play the devil's advocate. While I don't deny the power of this story and it's ability to inspire, I do lament our short and often inadequate attention span when it comes to human affairs.
I mean, a story about two trapped miners gets front-page coverage for two weeks but thousands of people dying in Darfur and we're almost used to it or desensitized.
It reminds me of that time when that Melbourne man was being hanged in Singapore. I really think people got too worked up over that one.
Alex
10:40 PM
Alex makes a good point, this only adds to the constant battle between the pro's and con's of the human psyche.
Azz H.
11:28 PM
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