For the first time yesterday I visited the Imperial War Museum in London. I decided it was high time I visited one of London’s leading attractions and get myself informed. The Imperial War Museum “is unique in its coverage of conflicts especially involving Britain and the Commonwealth from the First World War to the present day.”
Wars, tanks, canons, fighting soldiers, killing machines and so forth have never interested me in the slightest, I have always recoiled from anything to do with the killing of ones fellow human beings. I used to find it shocking that my little brother was so especially fascinated by war as a boy, he used to devour all the books he could get his hands on and I found this chilling but I put it down to what being a boy is all about I suppose. I realise now that I am older that it was the strategy of war that so fascinated him and I am sure all the knowledge of history and battles he soaked up as a kid has served him well in his field as a litigation lawyer because he certainly did not become a soldier.
I was seriously impressed with the museum, it is so extraordinarily well organised and tastefully laid out, so much information has been gathered and donated there, it is steeped in history, so many people are mentioned and given credit. Their war related stories were there for us all to read, hear and see along with their medals. This great building is a great national tribute to the living and the dead in war time. The building itself is light and airy and to walk around it is not too strenuous. There is so much to take in. We saw only a small part of the Crimes Against Humanity section because after going through the Holocaust we did not have the stomach or the energy to see any more in that area. I felt physically sick at what I saw there on film and in photographs. It turns your stomach when you think what man is capable of doing to his fellow man.
On the top floor of the museum is the Lord Ashcroft Gallery which was built by generous donation from Lord Ashcroft. The exhibition in the gallery is called “Extraordinary Heroes” which houses the world’s largest collection of Victoria Crosses and a significant collection of George Crosses. For those of you who do not know, The Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration awarded for valour in the face of the enemy, awarded to British and Commonwealth armed forces. The George Cross is the highest civil decoration of the UK, it is the civilian counterpart of the Victoria Cross and the highest gallantry award for civilians as well as military personnel in actions which are not in the fact of the enemy.
The highlight of my visit yesterday was definitely The Lord Ashcroft Gallery which was profoundly moving for me. I was completely bowled over by the bravery of so many of these men and women who risked their lives many times over. I found myself unbelievably moved as I walked along each row reading one incredibly courageous story after another. I can’t begin to share all that I read here but I highly recommend everyone visits this museum. I may not be in favour of war but I do recognise the courage and bravery of many who go to war and I think it is important that we all know what has gone before and that we seek not to repeat it. It is only right that we honour our soldiers for their courage and bravery, how unbelievable their experience in the war zones must have been and still are, how incredibly terrifying and yet many rise above this and perform feats that to us are simply beyond belief. We owe much too to those who recorded all that we have here, to the photographers some of whom have lost their lives in sharing what they saw with the rest of the world.
I shall be going back to the museum again soon to see all the parts that I did not get to yesterday but I leave you now with a quote from one of our finest soldiers Field Marshall Montgomery.
“I shall take away many impressions into the evening of life. But the one which I shall treasure above all is the picture of the British soldier – staunch and tenacious in adversity, kind and gentle in victory – the man to whom the nation has again and again, in the hour of adversity owed its safety and its honour”.
Yesterday evening I went deep into the heart of the City of London with the purpose of finding out a bit more about Twitter and watch the screening of a short documentary called Twittamentary made by Tan Siok Siok and hosted by Media 140 . The film is all about Twitter and Twitter users, the serendipitous meetings and connectivity that occurs there, stories which demonstrate the sheer global power and impact that just one little Tweet can cause and how this Twitter community can help others less fortunate. I was astounded and moved by this film. A great initiative. I have been using Twitter for a while now on and off but not with any regularity. After viewing last night’s fascinating film however, I fully commit to using Twitter more frequently.
The name Twitter is not news to most I’m sure. However, for the benefit of anyone reading this who is unaware of Twitter, I give you here the definition of Twitter from Wikipedia “Twitter is an online social networking service and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters known as “tweets”".
What I loved about this film was the real life on the ground running story telling it provided across a whole range of different topics and people, it managed to inspire and enthral the audience and the stories ran one into the next effortlessly with a tickertape (is how I describe it) of the Twitter names of each person featured running up the screen as their story came up. It worked well.
What in particular was I struck by? Well of course we were reminded of that very famous news item in January 2009 of the US Airways plane going down over and into the Hudson River in New York. Within seconds Janis Krums who happened to be on a ferry on the river at a great vantage point just at the right time got THE shot on his phone that went whizzing virally all over the world in seconds. That photograph was everywhere on Twitterpic before the item had hit the news headlines. And wouldn’t you know it, Janis Krums had put on his list of goals he wanted to achieve for 2009 “Increase my Twitter followers by 1,000″. That photo certainly helped him do that and here it is, thank you Janis Krums.
My favourite story – the Dominos Pizza Effect. Interactive Amy (Amy Korin) from Chicago had ordered 3 pizzas from Domino’s Pizza. These arrived after a one hour delay and Amy was not a happy bunny. On top of this protracted wait, one of the pizzas was not what had been ordered and so Amy Tweeted her dissatisfaction with Dominos. Well, this Tweet was picked up fairly quickly by Ramon de Leon, Managing Partner of 7 Dominos Pizzas in Chicago and responsible for this cock up. Ramon dealt with the matter pronto, he tweeted Amy, he sent her a video apology. This video apology has been embedded more than 87,000 times and now 87,001 – here it is! They say that the only way to put a social media fire out is with social media water and Ramon – you done good! I bet you run a very successful business and when I come to Chicago I shall pop in for sure.
I don’t want to tell you too much more about the content from this film but to give you a flavour from the cast of thousands it featured a porn star, a homeless lady, a trader who Tweets up to the second trading news from the New York Stock Exchange trading floor, a lady truck driver and her even more popular dog, a geek and cancer survivor, a comedian, a songwriter, an author, a travel journalist and Arianna Huffington. The list goes on and on and so do all the compelling stories. Twitter – so powerful and so immediate – you rock!
