Month: November 2002

Two very important meetings today, although very different in nature.

And my mind is so not on this planet that I wrote that at 9am, and only hit “publish” now. Oh, dear.

Just had a complete stranger call me from Germany, trying to contact Kristian at W2. They went to school together, it seems, and haven’t spoken for years. I provided the number for the bar, so hopefully they will get in touch.
Grayblog: just like Friends Reunited.

Oh, the joy of getting there before B3ta.
Fraser posts a link to this which I linked to waaaaaaay back in July, having been tipped off by Arseblogger and Dead Kenny, amongst others.

Today seems like it is going to be one of those days when the best-laid plans come to naught.
Anyway, following my post last night about Soma FM and Monkey Radio, time to remind you all to listen to radio grayblog. I have a few new tracks to add, and may even find time to get some of them on there today. No promises, mind you.
And TFF: 27 points, reflecting my reliance on Liverpool and Arsenal defence.

From the Very Good News department: both Monkey Radio and Soma FM are broadcasting again, with both offering splendid listening, including 24k streams for those of us who don’t always have broadband access.

All morning……. all bloody morning…

Just because I saw a bloke walking along my street as I left home this morning, wearing a hat that made him look just like Peter Tork.

I’m beginning to develop a deep loathing of Access. And it isn’t even midday yet.
I’m also increasingly feeling the need to go on holiday. A short break in, say, Paris is mightily tempting. How I reconcile this with impending fraternal birthday present purchasing, imminent Christmas gift buying, forthcoming silly season drunkenness and my existing overdraft and credit card debt, I really do not know. A small cash injection from an unexpected source this morning helped, but it was pitifully small relative to all that.
Oh yeh, there is also the small matter of impending big-time debt that is related to The Document, but I’m trying to block that from my mind.
And why is it that I can never type existng existnig exsiting existing correctly at the first attempt?

AFF. No points at all. Gah.

Look out world – here comes rice that will not die.

Just occasionally, local media can produce something that is really excellent – well presented and thought provoking. I watch the BBC South news most lunchtimes at work, and recently they have been following a former serviceman who has returned to the Falklands for the first time since the conflict, as part of efforts to commemorate the 20th anniversary.
Today he reached the point at Fitzroy where the Sir Galahad was sunk after being bombed by the Argentine forces. It was packed with members of the Welsh Guards waiting to land, along with their munitions – more than 200 died, the biggest single British military loss since the Second World War.
In an excellent piece of journalism, the camera crew just trained their camera on the serviceman, as he stood on the beach, tears running down his cheeks. There was no other sound than the lapping of the waves on the pebbled beach. Then he began to speak, and recounted the horror of that day for the first time, having repressed the memory for twenty years. As he stared out over the water, he spoke of the horrendous flash burns on his colleagues faces, how he tried to help as many as he could, how the plastic waterproofs that they wore melted onto their bodies so that when they tried to pull them off the injured, their skin came away as well.
Then he stopped speaking, and pulled a tissue from his pocket. The cameraman asked if he was ok. He didn’t reply.
By this point, my eyes were welling up. You can’t possibly imagine how awful an experience like that could be. Whilst I fully believe that the British were right to fight to liberate the Falklands, it is the poor sods on the ground who end up doing the dirty work. Perhaps Mr Blair and Mr Bush should meet people like this serviceman, and his counterpart veterans from the Argentinian side.

Related: BBC guide to the conflict.