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Published: July 22nd 2013
i grew up on stories of bravery + greatness.. stories of undersized boys fighting giants with stones cause none of the adults had the courage to fight anymore.. stories of a little ant trying to warn of predicted floods to all the uninterested ants in the ant hill. crazy stories of cricketers who had amazing success + barmy antics whilst touring around the world. these are my stories. the ones that live, breathe + nag away inside of me. they are my expectations.. these stories are what i hope to be. some dreams have died, some are alive + kicking + some drag wearily on..
a grown man sighs as he types at his computer sitting in an old open window on the 3
rd floor looking out above the eternal city. rome yeah.. u know, the one that all roads lead to. it should be dark + it should be quiet but for these dizzy city lights + the gentle hum of late night traffic + the odd squawking seagull passing by. all the childish hopes whispering thru me again. i wonder.. am i the goodie in this story or am i just that guy that always kinda
stuffed things up. u know the one that everyone relates to as the baddie but u sometimes kinda think well he was trying his best but just couldn’t quite get it right at the moments when he most needed to. all good intentioned but in the end just a bit of a clunker. am i that guy? a clunker?
wowsers the colosseum was impressive today.. as impressive as venice, florence + sienna have been, the colosseum has to take the cake.. began in 70 AD funded by the spoils from the jewish temple after the siege of jerusalem.. built over 10 years by a trio of roman emperors, vespasian + his two sons (titus + domitian). trying to use their power for the ppl after the previous emperor nero had been a bit of a clunker using power only for himself + himself alone. nero of course being famous for burning down rome in AD 64.. now everything was burnt to the ground + nero ever the opportunist took control of all the new land that suddenly became available on the market! at the heart of rome, in the middle of the city he built the very
decadent domus aurea. this grandiose new development included an artificial lake surrounded by pavilions, gardens, proticoes + a massive bronze statue of himself! all this built purposely for himself + only him to enjoy.
the ppl grew jack of nero + his era ended. the vespasians took power + immediately flattened the once indulgent opulent piece of land in the middle of the city which was to became both a literal + symbolic heart of rome.. vespasian's decision to build the colosseum for the ppl on the site of nero's lake can be seen in contrast to nero who had appropriated it only for his own use.
the ppl wanted their land back so the vespasians said.. “ok, heres a colosseum.. now, let me entertain u!”
+ put on a show the vespasians did + what a show it was! the genius of the free standing structural design, the spectacle of 80,000 sloshed jocular crowd sweltering in the hot afternoon sun, the lions, the gladiators, the heroes, the clowns, the villains all mixed in together in the name of entertainment.
now. sitting on the couch inside
the hotel cause my bum got sore, i consider all these things.. but mostly i consider that it is 3:12 am in the morning + i have to get some rest so that i can put in a strong performance watching the blues smash the maroons tomorrow in the state of origin.. selah
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Lynette Edwards
non-member comment
Italy!!
Wow Ben, you're a great storyteller! I really really enjoy reading your blog! Please keep going with it. Just think of all your descendants down thru the ages (or should that be 'up' thru the ages?) looking up their family tree on 'ancestry.com' or something like and finding your blogs. Great entertainment and something to be proud of!! Keep writin' you're a natural!