Harper-Thames on the light show that went spectacularly wrong and what it’s like to fail publicly in front of the actual river
Five out-of-control drones crashed into each other and plunged into the River Thames during a rehearsal for a light show this week, and I watched the footage roughly nine times, feeling an increasingly specific and slightly concerning kinship with every single one of them.
Why This Particular Mishap Actually Resonated With Me So Deeply
Because there’s something genuinely relatable about carefully rehearsing for something, building toward a specific moment of public brilliance, and then simply falling directly into the river in full view of everyone, a sentence that describes both these drones and, frankly, several of my own recent professional efforts.
What Actually Happens To A Drone Once It’s Committed To The River
Apparently very little dignity survives the process, based on the available footage, the drones sinking with the same quiet, resigned finality I imagine I’d manage in similar circumstances.
How I Actually Spent My Evening After Watching This Footage On Repeat
Genuinely reflecting on my own recent public failures, drawing what I recognise is an entirely unearned parallel between myself and several malfunctioning pieces of consumer electronics that briefly went viral.
Whether I Think The Actual Light Show Will Recover From This Rehearsal Disaster
Almost certainly, since rehearsal disasters are, by definition, meant to happen before the actual thing everyone’s watching, a distinction I try to remind myself of during my own rehearsals for anything important.
What This Whole Incident Revealed About The River’s Long, Patient History Of Simply Absorbing Whatever London Throws At It, Literally Or Otherwise
Mostly that the Thames has been quietly receiving London’s failures, ambitious and otherwise, for centuries, and five confused drones are really just the latest small, blinking addition to that considerable tradition. More Thames-adjacent musings continue at bohiney.com.
SOURCE: https://bohiney.com
