The universe is made of stories, not atoms

Having access to so much news and commentary from blogs has been a mixed blessing, I think. On the one hand it has been good to hear from people who were there, and from people who have been observing the media and collating the available information for others. It’s been amazing to read the information on Wikipedia, Boing Boing (I especially loved this picture), and Kottke, just to name a few sites. The pictures on Flickr have been good too – like the 7/7 group, and Hinius‘s set. Been checking the Beeb regularly, and Aunty and SMH too.

People’s responses have also been good to read:

• A London paramedic’s report
• From the Muslim blogosphere
• To condemn absolutely

I found watching the news on tv almost unbearable after the first half hour or so. They just kept replaying the same pictures and speculating and I think it had the affect of making me more scared and tense rather than informed. I completely agree with ricepot’s comment that “It was more performative than informative, and after a while it felt so contrived, so superficial, so sensationalised, so obviously produced to incite particular emotions”. This post on instapundit raised an interesting issue – is the media feeding the flames of this so-called War on Terrorism? All I can say is, I am glad that there are so many different news and information sources available to me these days.

I don’t understand the mentality of the people who have done this, whoever they are. The assumption seems to be that they must be Islamists, Al-Qaeda or their sympathisers, but as Spikebot says: “This is not the work of Muslims. It’s the work of nutters. Nutters are nutters no matter what religion or nationality.”

People in London seem to be getting on with their lives, but I cannot imagine what the families of those who have died, or who are still missing, must be going through right now.

I feel better today than I did yesterday. The sick, sad feeling has faded a bit. It’s been a clear, cold morning in Perth. While I was hanging the washing out on the line at 7am, a flock of birds flew high up in the sky above my head. They were beautiful.

Categories: London, blogging, media