The Eighth Wonder of the World - Incredible! (Last in this Series)

 

 Eighth Wonder of the World

There are a few considered for the title.

Four are listed here. They are constructions rather than natural wonders.

Pre-1900 creations

Part Eight

The Taj Mahal

The Taj Mahal  'Crown of the Palace') is an ivory-white marble mausoleum on the bank of the river Yamuna in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was commissioned in 1631 by the fifth Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan (r. 1628–1658) to house the tomb of his beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal; it also houses the tomb of Shah Jahan himself. The tomb is the centrepiece of a 17-hectare (42-acre) complex, which includes a mosque and a guest house, and is set in formal gardens bounded on three sides by a crenellated wall.

Construction of the mausoleum was completed in 1648, but work continued on other phases of the project for another five years. 

There are many myths surrounding it, including that it was actually built in the 12^th century. That it was designed by a Frenchman, another claims a Spaniard, an Italian and another by a Hindu King. No concrete evidence exists for claims that describe, often in horrific detail, the deaths, dismemberment and mutilations which Shah Jahan supposedly inflicted on various architects and craftsmen associated with the tomb.

Photo - Muhammad Mahdi Karim - Own work, GFDL 1.2, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=23199927

The Taj Mahal is a major tourist attraction and attracts approximately five million visitors a year.

                                                    The Terracotta Army

The Terracotta Army is a collection of terracotta sculptures depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China. It is a form of funerary art buried with the emperor in 210–209 BCE with the purpose of protecting him in his afterlife.

The figures, dating from approximately the late 200s BCE, were discovered in 1974 by local farmers.

GFDL, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2103826

The figures vary in height according to their rank, the tallest being the generals. The figures include warriors, chariots and horses. Estimates from 2007 were that the three pits containing the Terracotta Army hold more than 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses, and 150 cavalry horses. Other, non-military figures have since been found in other pits, including those of officials, acrobats, strongmen, and musicians.

By kevinmcgill from Den Bosch, Netherlands - KAM_5048, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=31690639

                                                        The Thames Tunnel

The Thames Tunnel is a tunnel beneath the River Thames in London, connecting Rotherhithe and Wapping. It measures 35 ft (11 m) wide by 20 ft (6.1 m) high and is 1,300 ft (400 m) long, running at a depth of 75 ft (23 m) below the river surface measured at high tide. It is the first tunnel known to have been constructed successfully underneath a navigable river. It was built between 1825 and 1843 by Marc Brunel, and his son, Isambard.

 
The tunnel was originally designed for horse-drawn carriages, but was mainly used by pedestrians and became a tourist attraction. In 1869 it was converted into a railway tunnel.

By Lars Plougmann from United States - Thames Tunnel walk, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11606054

Previous entries HERE

Bonus - One more for the simple thrill of it. This is the Victoria Bridge in Montreal, Canada. It opened in 1859 and spans the St. Lawrence River. 

Human beings can be quite amazing afterall!

Photo 1901

This is the last in this series. I hope you enjoyed them. 

Peace

Anthony

Best Songs of 2024 - Fkn Awesome

 

Moncrieff

Here is the YouTube playlist for the Best Songs of 2024. 

You will recognise some big newish names like James Arthur, Chappell Roan and Lola Young, other new artists you've never heard of like Twin Atlantic and Ian Yates (many don't get the views of the big name acts but whose music I think outweighs the generic blandness of 'artists' like Bille Ellish). And some old school artists are also back with great new music such as Bananarama, Pearl Jam, Kim Wilde and Shed Seven. 

Give it a listen. There's so many great tracks to enjoy. Awesome for playing around the house while you're doing other things or just relaxing. There's no hurry either so take months if need be but give it a go and you'll discover some real gems.

Sea Girls

Throughout the year I listen to thousands of new songs. 

The ones I like I will download and listen to them several times before making a decision whether to 'keep' them or not. I do these in monthly folders. The ones that make the cut per se, will be burnt to a CD to listen to in my car. Some months I will make only one CD, others two or three. At the end of the year I go through and select the Best out of those in the folders. In other words, from 378 songs that I selected this year (for every one, I would have listened to 20), I selected 68 for this Playlist. 

Older profile image for this site

A.J. Langford Books

May 2025 bring you happiness. Failing that, good health and some peace. Never underestimate the last two. I value them now more than anything.

Author photo from 2012

2024 was the worst fkng year of my life. (Mental health).
I pray it gets better but know it could yet be worse.
So trying to practice gratitude for those good moments.

Thank you

 

Happy Christmas - Wherever you are in life, may you find some peace. If not, joy at this time.

In Space, No One can Hear Your Sleigh

It's not always great for everyone. Especially as we age and lose people and our health. If not, remember the times that were good. There were many.

Thank you for your support this year, those few who have interacted with this site and me. 

Thank you. 

May the year to come be a good one for you. 

Peace

Anthony

A.J. Langford Books

Oh God, they're at it again... His n Hers - A Video

 

'It's your fault!'

It's the age old argument. Literally and figuratively. 

I wrote this in November, 2014, exactly a decade ago. I made the video in 2022. Time to share it with you. Nice and short. Love to hear your thoughts.

Watch on YouTube HERE

Please consider one of my books. All are on sale. From my first novel, Lone Wolf World, to story and poetry collections, there's something for everyone. 

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What did you think? 

Let me know. 

Or don't 😼- I'm not taking it down. No matter what people say. Nope. Not even with begging. 

Okay, maybe a little begging will earn a consideration... 😉

He died far too young. Famous After Death - But not in name

Famous After Death

John William Polidori

John William Polidori was an author and a doctor. He died aged only 25.

He was born on 7 September 1795 in London and received his degree as a doctor of medicine on 1 August 1815, aged just 19.

The following year, Dr. Polidori entered Lord Byron's service as his personal physician and accompanied him on a trip through Europe. Publisher John Murray offered Polidori 500 English pounds to keep a diary of their travels. Polidori's nephew William Michael Rossetti later edited them. At the Villa Diodati, a house Byron rented by Lake Geneva in Switzerland, the pair met with Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, her husband-to-be, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and their companion (Mary's stepsister) Claire Clairmont.

Frontispiece from the original German version of Fantasmagoriana.

One now famous June night they read aloud from Fantasmagoriana, a French collection of German horror tales. Byron suggested they each write a ghost story. Percy Bysshe Shelley wrote 'A Fragment of a Ghost Story' and wrote down five ghost stories recounted by Matthew Gregory "Monk" Lewis, published posthumously as the Journal at Geneva (including ghost stories) and on return to England, 1816, the journal entries. 

Mary Shelley worked on a story with her husband that would later become Frankenstein. Byron wrote but quickly abandoned, a fragment of a story, 'A Fragment', featuring a character called Augustus Darvell. Polidori later used this as the basis for his own story, 'The Vampyre', the first published modern vampire story.

Polidori's conversation with Percy Bysshe Shelley on 15 June 1816 is regarded as the origin of Frankenstein. They discussed 'the nature of the principle of life.'  'Shelley and I had a conversation about principles - whether man was to be thought merely an instrument.'

 

Dismissed by Byron, Polidori traveled in Italy and then returned to England. His story, 'The Vampyre', which featured the main character Lord Ruthven, was published in the April 1819 issue of New Monthly Magazine without his permission. Much to both his and Byron's annoyance, 'The Vampyre' was released as a new work by Byron. Byron's own vampire story 'Fragment of a Novel' or 'A Fragment' was published in 1819 in an attempt to clear up the confusion, but 'The Vampyre' continued to be attributed to him.

Polidori's long, Byron-influenced theological poem The Fall of the Angels was published anonymously in 1821.

Polidori, weighed down by depression and gambling debts, died in London on 24 August 1821. Despite strong evidence that he committed suicide by means of prussic acid, the coroner concluded that he had died by natural causes.

 

Other people who became Famous After Death

A.J. Langford Books

A damn weird video. What is it? What does it mean?

 

I made this art video in 2013. I don't recall my thought processes or what it was all for other than I like trees and videoing and being creative. Less so these days but at the time I was very productive. The soundtrack added another element.

I thought I'd share it after it's been sitting on my hard-drive for 11 years.

As to what it means, you decide. Then perhaps let me know your interpretation.

A direct shot from the video

Watch on YT Here

My YouTube Channel

A.J. Langford Books

The ultimate human right - Suicide

 

Three months ago, (Aug.) I was in a very dark place. (Most of 2024 has been awful). I thought I had emerged but seemed to have taken a significant step back lately. I was never going to share this but fuck it. It is what it is. Oversharing perhaps. But it's not a bad poem (I barely write anymore) and makes a point I'd like to pass on to you.

The Inevitable

 

When the day comes

Know it was no-one’s fault

Least of all mine

There were other options

I felt explored already

So don’t be angry

I wasn’t selfish

It was a Mercy Act

Overdue

Not taken many years earlier

For the sake of others.

 

We all get there

In the end

Ageing deterioration

In this state

Felt too much to bear.

 

We are all ultimately

In a ‘I Now’ reality

Irrespective of others

No how close the bond.

 

We’re merely Caged

Without Walls

Weighed down

By our mortal limitations

And I pushed mine

To its last.

 

I hope your structure

Is ultimately kinder

To its fragile host.

 

12.8.24

11pm.

 

 

 

That statement is very true for me. I'm hanging on. But it's exhausting. Every day is a endurance test. I'm in survival mode. I do want a record, just in case. But I really hope to look back and be thankful that I persevered. And maybe be embarrassed that I shared this at all. I could live with that. (Yes, a little black humour).

(I also have bipolar 2 and serious side effects from medication which compound my internal distress). 

Speaking of life expectancy for people with mental health issues. I just found this article.

This from Healthline. 

Living with bipolar disorder is associated with decreased life expectancy. “Lifestyle factors prevalent among individuals with bipolar disorder — such as increased rates of smoking, substance use, poor dietary habits, and a sedentary lifestyle — pose additional risks for chronic illnesses,” Jensen says.

Compounding it all, he adds, are the natural mental health challenges that come from living with bipolar disorder, such as chronic stress, medication side effects, and suicidal ideation.

A 2023 reviewTrusted Source found that suicide was the leading cause of specific premature mortality among people living with bipolar disorder.

Brent Metcalf, a licensed clinical social worker from Kingsport, Tennessee, explains that the heightened risk of suicide stems from the intense mood shifts, impulsivity, and hopelessness that often characterize the condition.

More Poetry

I miss the person I was. The life I had. 

I hope you're in a decent place. I wouldn't wish this shit upon anyone.

Ask and you shall not receive - Unreleased version

 

A new discovery

In 2013 I made multiple version of the video poem, Ask. I was insecure about using my voice and ending up using a professional voice over artist, named Kabir Singh from the U.S. 

I came across this version when looking at the early versions of the Caged Without Walls trailers.

So I thought, being a decade old now, I would share it with you. Ask and you shall not receive. 

My voiceover version

Original 2013 version

A.J. Langford Books