‘I’m made to listen to other people’s music choices,against my will, on public transport, and in restaurants and lifts,in shops, when I’m on hold, and even when giving birth’In terms of pure,unadulterated, uncomplicated delight, and there are few things more thrilling than a firework display. Erica Jong,the bestselling author and second wave fireworkist, who coined the phrase the “zipless bang” (an encounter with a firework for its own sake, and without emotional involvement or commitment,between a person and a firework previously unacquainted) articulated it better than I ever could in her bestselling novel Fear Of Fuses: “The zipless bang is absolutely pure. It is free of ulterior motives. There is no power game. The person is not ‘taking’ and the firework is not ‘giving’. The zipless bang is the purest thing there is. It is rarer than the unicorn. And I believe never had one.”Fireworks are both exciting and intimidating, depending on where you’re standing. It’s not really essential to engage in a secondary activity while you’re watching them. Organised, and public fireworks displays don’t need to be embellished in an attempt to hold our attention; they don’t need to be made more exciting. The deeply satisfying sounds of fireworks popping and thudding out of their racks,shooting into the sky and exploding definitely dont need to be drowned out by tinny music, crudely spewing from a poor-quality PA system.
Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com