Heavy Brass

Today is international Herb Alpert Appreciation day. No one fights today - bring the troops home.

No really it is.

I have just spent half a day with some of the worst code ever written and it is not even mine. I would not have written code of such mind-numbing idiocy when my fingers first hit keyboard. Just to let you know the mood I am in and hence explain any uncharacteristic comments here.

What to comment on. Well there are a few people who don't know what day it is. Do the people who carry guns really ALL believe they are fighting for freedom? I know sometimes we sit back and 'accept' a certain level of freedom fighting but the decision over where the line is drawn is arbitrary and seems to depend on which school the protagonists went to. I feel that so many people with this idea of armed struggle just like the swagger and cool look that they think they get from the hardware. When I was a small boy, into guns and playing soldiers it was obvious to me that this was the case. I know that some people really do passionately believe that they will change the world with a kalashnikov or armalite (unconscious decision made to not give these two capital letters) but again it is a case of not looking at the long term consequences. Do the bombers all think that that the enemy will stop being horrible and say "well that showed us didn't it? We shall have a good think about this and maybe we will do what these people want." or do they say "The Bastards! Let's get them". You may argue that International strife and politics is not like a simple dispute between hard cases behind the bike sheds but I will counter with the complex reply that "YES IT IS".

Talking about behind the bike shed reminds me of something. Not that! At school during the Falkland's War, we all gathered er .. behind the bike sheds to listen to radio news reports and I recall the news of the sinking of various ships making us all stop and think hard about this. It made us realise that people were dying rather than just walking unhindered into Port Stanley. I can't say that it was the moment when I stopped thinking like a teenage hooligan and became a well-rounded adult but it may have been the point at which things turned round. At the time I would have said something like Adrian Mole i.e. "It was THE END OF CHILDHOOD" but I like to think that my childhood has not yet ended. The lacerates were running down my face. I actually thought that this article said 'lachrymates' which is closer to the real meaning but it was a synonym for 'tears' as in rips. Celebrate! The world is in safe hands and I am still writing sixth form poetry.

It is always a worry when writing diaries etc that something you write will sound like Adrian Mole. I have been writing diaries for years, most of which sounded like Adrian Mole and I am not going to worry any more. I am just going away to count some Newts now.