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6 August 1945 8:15 am. Never again.

“What you see is one of the few buildings that remained standing in Hiroshima after the explosion of the atomic bomb. The building was designed by a Czech architect named Jan Letzel and served as a market for local products, but inside there were also offices, and a hall where organized exhibitions and cultural events were held. Today the building is known as A-Bomb Dome, and after a long debate, the city of Hiroshima decided in 1966 to preserve it as evidence of the atomic bomb and its destructive power. In fact, the building has remained exactly the same as it was immediately after the impact of the bomb, which occurred at 8:15 am on 6 August 1945 and at a distance of 160 metres southeast and at a height above the ground about 600 metres.”

Translated (with a few corrections) by Google Translate from the photographer’s Italian original.

 Posted by Mrs Thomson with apologies for any errors in the above translation.

by HeathS

On the 20th of May 2008, our class attended the Sydney Writers’ Festival with many other students at the Riverside Theatre, Parramatta. The entire festival was active over a 6-day period, from the 19th – 25th of May. Writers such as Dr. Karl Kruszelnicki, Nicki Greenberg and JC Burke entertained and informed the entire audience with their interesting – often humorous – commentary and reviews of their books. Even questionable comments were shared such as Dr. Karl’s yawning and the individual reactions to those who are using anti-depressants and the stage adaption of JC Burke’s ‘Starfish Sisters’. The entire session was of a light-hearted, yet knowledgeable and meaningful tone.

The first speaker – Dr. Karl Kruszelnicki discussed his passion for science, common myths, and conspiracies. However, his eccentric shirt caught the entire theatre’s attention. Firstly, he presented the common myth of ‘The Bermuda Triangle”, and made the inference that the Bermuda Triangle having any kind of ‘supernatural’ force behind it was as credible as man walking on the sun, and that word of mouth has twisted the truth of the actual ‘mysteries’. (more…)