you've ever been to the bus station which could be considered one of the most depressing places in England (and it's not without its competition there). Infact, the bus station itself is downright maudlin. Its full of empty shops, has very poor lighting and - despite being between the train station and the centre of Luton, is hidden away under a massive carpark as isolated from both, thereby becoming a haven for hoodies (see right).But I digress. The magic in Luton is nothing short of miraculous. It is the pedestrian overpass (see it on the right, avert your eyes if you're, like, the son of the devil or something), which links the train station (to the north) with the
aforementioned carpark and bus station (to the east), and provides a pedestrian link through to the shopping mall and on to the town centre and council offices (bottom left of the lower satellite pic - and there's a Nando's under that big white roof on the right which I've taken care of). As entry statements go, it's not that inspirational. Infact, it was probably ugly even in the 1960s. When I tell people in my profession that I'm working at Luton the most common response is "jeez, you've got your work cut out for you there - it could do with some improvement." But isn't that intrinsic in all magic?? You don't see it coming?? So how is it magical? Well, when it rains - even drizzles a little bit - the overpass leaks. It's not some small little dribble either - it pours through. And it keeps going long after the rain stops. So much so that the volume that leaks through the overpass easily exceeds the amount of rain that falls on it. So it disobeys the second law of thermody-whatever. **
And its not impressive or beneficial to anyone whatsoever - it's useless magic at best. Although I've often wondered what would happen if I drew the Virgin Mary on the roof of the overpass, with the leaks forming her tears. There'd be pilgrims coming from all over the place. And they'd probably burn me at the stake when they caught me re-touching it and figured it out. I'd probably need some sort of permanent marker.
Anyways, there
you have it. Magic in the most unlikely of places: Luton.** I'm certain that some of my nerdy friends will pick me up on that one
1 comment:
I believe the science nerd thing you're referring to is the law conservation of mass - ie all mass in the universe remains constant.
You're semi-reference to thermodynamics (which refer to conservation (or lack thereof) of energy) was horribly unscientitianistic and arts degree-esque. I think you're subconsciously drawing reference from the Simpsons, specifically this scene here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWorVoeZd3A
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