Flyby PC

Thin ice here - getting political, but hopefully neutrally. I don't prefer labour over tory, or even the liberals. Truth be known I just think the UK has had very poor government for decades now. - And I mean criminally bad. They've failed wholesale to defend our industry, they've consistently squandered initiatives and denied many of our young people the opportunity to look after themselves independently and contribute to their community. All governments have lied to us, lined their own pockets, and spent waaaay beyond their means, and taxed every living thing they could to the hilt. I read or heard somewhere that somebody earning £12k a year in the UK will pay £7k of that back in tax - thats income tax, National insurance, VAT, fuel duty, drink duty, tobacco duty, road tax,.... That's not a high roller, £12k isn't a big wage. And Scotland? Scotland's a joke - the only country to discover oil and get poorer. What the UK needs is a new thinking government with some vision and imagination, and a degree of integrity to deliver it. Not just hot air and good PR, I mean REAL substance, - build a productive economy from scratch if needs be, but for the love of god, forget the 'vested interest' mentality and get our communities engaged with it. Make successful people something we ALL aspire to become, not seen by many as some smarmy white collar criminal who must have greased a few palms to have got where he is. Either that or a chump who still goes to work because he's never discovered the benefit system. It's not right. The current formula isn't working and the tail is beginning to wag the dog. Part of the reason I hate the TV is that the very people who might be 'thinking' the country in the right direction are sat in front of the TV each night, mortgaged to the hilt so they can't actually afford to take any chances with their lives, and permanently sedated until bedtime by dull and uninspirational 'entertainment'. If nothing happens to change their circumstances, they're going to stay like that their entire lives and call themselves happy. What a waste. We now have something like 70% home ownership in the UK. 100 years ago it was 10%. Why the change? Why, after centuries of history, in the latter half of the 20th C was it suddenly so vitally important to own our own house? And look at those houses - compare what they built 100 years ago to the garbage they build now. Despite what the TV would have us believe, widespread ownership of property not a traditional feature of our culture. We should spend our money in our communities, - start buying our own produce and investing in our countries again, - not paying everything we earn as interest to a bank. What is wrong with us? Our banks are a big success story? No kidding! As a nation, or nations, we need to think about where we are and where we want to be, because our problems get bigger with every generation we abandon, disown or alienate. It used to be said that Scotlands best export was it's people. So why are so many of them flung on the scrapheap or wasted in unproductive service industries? Exactly what are we waiting for? Somebody to come and help us? Hate to say it, but a lot of the young people I come across hardly seem like good embassadors for our country, nor it's education system. That HAS to be undone and put right, but seems to me that repeated governments don't know how to do it or just aren't interested. We've been ahead here, we've had a lead on the rest of the world, but it's just been squandered like everything else. We need to get ourselves sorted, quickly, and get back in the race or else be left behind and be ever more impoverished in our culture. OK, that's me off the soap box now. (quick tug of the forelock), beggin your pardon, I'll get meself back back down't pit now.

Spoke to a man in the summer who owned 4 or 5 businesses, haulage, garages, storage etc and who had worked hard all his life. Technically retired, he wasn't and still working. He said he'd no regrets about his life, but if he had his time again and wanted to be richer, he'd have got himself a job and stuck at it for 40 years then retired on a good pension. Sick pay and a pension? I couldn't believe it. If you sign on, you even get £25/week to keep a dog. Somebody's taking the p*$"s. Even so, I don't think I could go employed again. All that crap from foremen, bosses and architects who don't know squat about stone. They make the money and you sort all the fk ups. I'd be the employee from Hell..... in Hell. (I'd probably meet my accountant down there too).

Hope it all works out UKW. 2010 has been a bad year here. It's undone ALL the progress I've made in the last 5 years, and I'm not out the woods yet. I can last a few months into the new year, but if the work I have scheduled for the Spring doesn't go ahead, then I'm going to really struggle. If the worst happens, it's 2010 that's done the damage. I lost a lot of productivity with last years winter which didn't let go until well into April, and we really struggled to pick up anything over the summer. I stupidly kept hold of my team for as long as possible, 3 of whom were apprentices, and run down all my resources keeping them on. It was a gamble that didn't pay off, they lost their jobs anyway, and I've badly weakened my company, which was only getting started in the first place. That one decision alone cost me £28k, and that's a lot of money to me. I've only got my unit half built, which I can't sell unfinished, but can't afford to finish. The Bank is as much help as a chocolate teapot, -they'd let me borrow the money to finish my unit, but only if the unit was finished and put up as colateral. A typical catch 22 situation which Banks so enjoy putting their customers into. So we're kind of stagnant at the moment, stuck in the proverbial rutt. Any other year, the 4 degrees and rising temperatures I need usually let me keep building into November and December. With judicious protection, I maybe lose a few weeks to bad weather in the typical winter, and I often have stone to dress anyway. This year, all I have is builderwork/lime pointing, or lime rendering. All of which need the magic 4 degrees. This year, we started getting -16 degrees in November. I haven't earned a bolt since October. Add this winter to last, and that's a whole 6 months I've been shut down by the weather, with the worst summer I can remember for picking up new works. That's like financing a business on a part time wage. It's not been easy. For those guys on a wage, just imagine how half wages would feel for a full year, then add a bill for £28K, and another £6k for redundancy payments. Ouch. Suffice to say, if I'm extra careful, I can run to about April, but without work to pull us away from this trough in performance, that's about as far as I'm going to get. I have options, but not very great options and all of which I'd regret almost at once. So I'm a little stuck and uncertain about the future. Even if things go sweetly, it's going to take 3 or 4 years to undo the damage of 2010. I'll be absolutely gutted if I lose my ground. I've never had money, and it took me to my 40's before I finally managed to get hold of some land. I finally thought I was getting somewhere, and in one year, it's all falling apart and could go t*ts up completely. If I've learned anything, it's have your dreams by all means, but just don't over invest in them. My salvation rests on a job forecast for the spring. It's a decent six figure job, but it's entirely out of my hands whether it goes ahead or not. If it does, I know I can put the hours in and dig myself out the myre. If it doesn't go ahead, then I'm in trouble. I have other smaller projects, but they'd just keep me ticking over. Ticking over isn't an option. Because the Bank wouldn't help me, I had to look further afield and the finance I could get was short term turnaround. Bottom line is I need to get the work and get it done this coming year or else I may lose everything. -It's not a dodgy loan shark, but private finance is usually shorter term. I have to say 2010 has been a real eye opener, not least for finding out who your friends are. I don't want to sound arrogant about it, but I can cope with the stress. I work best under pressure with a chip on my shoulder, and when the chips are down I like having 'me' to rely upon. If I fail, and lose what I've built, then I had SFA to begin with anyway. I've survived it once. Am I bitter? No. It's the chance you take. When you go self employed, you opt out all the welfare support options which others can depend on. It was my choice, no point crying about it now. I've never signed on welfare anyway, never. Do I blame the banks? Well yes and no. I don't really dwell on the blame thing. It's like the fable about the fox and the scorpion. (Google it - the scorpion stings the fox as it carries him over a stream. The fox says what have you done? We'll both die now! Why did you do that? The scorpion shrugs and says "Because I'm a scorpion. It's in my nature".) The 'bank' is a ruthless and unscrupulous animal which will take whatever opportunity is can to get it's hands on our money. We all know this, it's the nature of what a bank is, but yet we still let the banks decide how much our houses should cost, even if it flies in the face of logic and objective value. Strikes me it's not actually the bank who's being stupid. If we act like sheep, we shouldn't be surprised that we attract wolves.

Happy Hogmanay! Lets hope its a better year than 2010. Shouldn't be difficult. Lets all pray it isn't worse.

I blame the media. In a capitalist system, money is power, or THE power to be more specific. Your elected government may sway how things are done to a degree, but if the 'money' loses confidence in that government, just wait - it won't last. It's money, not policy, which makes the country function. When it comes to political parties I reckon they're all same if you look closely. Labour, Tory, Lib Dem, - they'll all have their saints, rogues, heros and villains. Democracy is just the illusion of control that's needed to stop revolution breaking out. You have a red government, blue, yellow, but ask yourself what REALLY changes in any structural sense? Don't focus on the subject matter, that's not the point, (I don't mean to be partial or nationalistic) but to illustrate the case very clearly, look at Scotlands devolution. Not the 1997devolution, but the 1979 devolution referendum. 52% of the vote was a yes for devolution, but the Labour Government introduced the thoroughly undemocratic 40% rule, whereby every person who didn't vote was counted as a 'no' vote, and Scotland was denied it's DEMOCRACTIC right. Scotlands North Sea oil revenues then kept pumping into the UK coffers. Democracy? It's skin deep, a sham, nothing more. Who really rules our country? Follow the money... and I'll bet it doesn't take you to Westminster. Do I promote revolution? No, not really. I live in the West. While I'm not affluent or well blessed financially, I'm not stupid either. I'd still prefer my lot over that of anybody anybody in the third world. I find capitalism thouroughly unpleasant and immoral, but it works and delivers a degree of global stability. If we could get rid of capitalism but keep the stability, I'd be all for it. Why do you think China, the mighty empire which has never once invaded foreign soil, is presented to us a threat? They now have money to rival ours. We have to take them seriously, but it's all about money. Politics? Just a puppet show. It shouldn't be, but we let it be. On a more day to day level, what I find most depressing about our modern world is the national anaesthetic of soap operas and reality shows were are bombarded with through our TV's every day of our lives. We even get omnibus editions at the weekends! So what, 'repeat' is a dirty word so we'll call it an omnibus edition? Such TV is mind numbingly dull, and directly responsible for the theft of initiative and creativity which once defined our respective cultures. Nowadays we all expect to be looked after, have things done for us, and be able to own whatever we like. Just my opinion, but TV is making our society into the walking dead. When you think what TV had and still has the power to deliver, and compare that to the nightly drivel actually presented. If I could change one thing about our society, I would end the domination of the soap opera / police drama, and create a TV which asks questions of us and stimulates our collective intellect, not stifles it until we are all zombies, or a nation of sheep. In Orwells 1984, the viewscreens didn't have off buttons. It's not too late, our TV's still do...

Biting my lip a little bit with all these budding writers about, but of all the careers out there, isn't writing actually a pretty tough way to go about it? From what I've heard, it's the lucky few who can make a living from it, but demoralising and habitual rejection for the vast majority of would be authors trying to find a publisher. It seems to me like one of those professions where talent and ability are much less important than luck and having the right connections. Don't get me wrong, I salute the bravery and initiative, and I really wouldn't want to discourage anybody keen to start, but may I maybe recommend they have a plan B worked out to keep some pennies rolling in while plan A gets some momentum. I once thought about writing a book about stonework. I know a lot about it, (stone that is, not writing) some of it 'old school' knowledge I've never read in any book, but once you crunch the numbers, it would have to inspire an awful lot of people to take an interest in stonework before I'd see anything but a token return for my endeavours. As a published author, you'd only expect to get 10% of the books sale price. Even assuming you can get a publisher, thats a shed load of books to sell before you see a decent income. Just my personal opinion, but I'd try to stay employed until my first book was actually written, then see if I could find a publisher. Even then, it might take months if not years before you see any money at all. Can you support yourself in the meantime? As a parralel, take a look at how good and unique OFF is as a piece of software, and yet still how difficult it remains turning all that talent and ability into money. I am really a positive person most of the time, or try to be, but as a means to an end, I wouldn't have much faith in a writing career. I know, I know, I know, I'm contradicting myself when I said do something you want to do, but unless you're financially independent already, a reasonable income is still an important part of the formula. I'm sorry if that deflates you guys a bit, but you'd be doing yourself a big favour to find yourself a real published author and actually have a good heart to heart talk with them before doing anything. Just my tuppenceworth, and that from a man who break rocks for a living.

I got what I want for Christmas! SPRING!!!! WOOOHOOOO!!!!! This is a Met Office forecast too, none of your BBC fairy stories. Woohooo! Where did I put my shorts and sun cream? (Yes ok, I'm bored and yes I have been shut in the house too long).

I can write a story with no words - (It's a curling stone if you don't know or can't make out what it is, - saw it today walking the dogs and had to chuckle. ).

They say it takes 37 muscles to frown but only 22 to smile. I doubt it's true, but it's the thought that counts and makes you smile. Merry Christmas all. On the other hand, it takes 45,375 muscles to put your winter woolies on when they're still a bit damp from yesterday and it's -16 degrees outside, - but as I recall, just 3 muscles to put on jeans and a tea shirt in the summer! C'mon summer, c'mon big fella, I miss you, sooo much.....and it's only December....sigh....sob....whimper. A chuckle is one thing, but this is a nightmare. Not withstanding the economy, (don't get me started), I need 4 degrees and rising to build anything with lime mortar, and no threat of frost. Not had that since October. Temp bobbles between -4 and -16, usually sits between -8 and -10. I can't even dress stone because it's welded to the ground, and the bridge saw is frozen solid anyway. Besides, you try holding a 3/4" frozen bit of steel all day. Frozen stone just doesn't cut right either. Bit fed up with the travel chaos on the TV all the time. What's so important about our airports? They're important to those trying to fly, but there's a lot of stuff closer to home I need to know about before the conditions of the bleeding airports. -7 is it? So why is the thermometer saying -15? I can travel fine, but there's SFA to do when I get here - except burn stuff. Bearing in mind this winter crap didn't clear away last year until April, that's me been on half time for a whole year already. Back in October I lost my complete workforce I'd just spent 4 years building up. And that was before all this rubbish started. 2010? Can't finish soon enough. Disaster from end to end. Personally I'm big and ugly enough that I can take it,.... just not sure the business can. Doing my best, but if we recover at all it's going to take years. It's amazing how quick you adjust to the weather though. Temp stayed at -8 all day yesterday, never moved. I still can't do anything, but after -16 last week, -8 feels ok. For those who want a heart felt merry chistmas, then I hope you do have a Merry Christmas. For those facing despair and uncertainty this year, well, I know that some years Christmas can just make things even tougher. So for those folks, just look after yourself this year. You want to opt out of Christmas? Do it. It's ok, and there's no lasting harm done. (but whatever you do, the occassional smile will help ).

Totally agree. People forget how touch and go some of the operations were, and how vulnerable to air attack the UK forces were. Most of the Chinooks went down when the Atlantic Conveyor was hit by Exocets. This was a big blow to deploying the forces, concentrating men and ships in harms way longer than necessary. The airfields were all unsuitable for fast jets, and if my memory is correct, I was only 15, I remember a level of concern aired whether the Harrier was up to the job of fighting off much faster combat jets from the Argentine Air Force. I seem to recall the Rapier (was it?) air defence wasn't up to much, either defeated by the low flying tactics, or took too long to set up effective air cover. This all left a big hole in the sky, which the noble Harrier not only filled but for the most part dominated. It was he right kit, in the right place, at the right time. It's a legendary machine. Sadly, nothing is sacred to the British Treasury, (not least the Scottish Regiments), but who am I to judge the man making this decision? Eventually somebody had to make the decision to axe the Spitfire, the Lancaster and the Mosquito. All stunning aircraft with an impeccable pedigree. Lets just hope and pray the UK never has occassion to feel the absence of the Hawker Harrier overhead.

I'm sad to see the Harrier's retired. It's like Concorde. How can something be obsolete when there's nothing better replacing the lost capacity? On the other hand, what do you call an aircraft carrier which won't have any aircraft for 10 years - obsolete or just stupid? Harriers are iconic aircraft which did the business in the Falklands, and the Task Force would have been in deep trouble without them. Its a sad day to see them go, especially when you consider that Thatcher's mothballing of the Endurance was the spark which started the whole Falklands War. What are Britains enemies supposed to make of this latest policy? OK, all aircraft come to the end of their useful life, but that just doesn't fit with the Harrier.

No, it doesn't have to be like that themightysrc, get yourself signed up for some training courses, and if you can't find any new job within a month, start pursuing start up grants for your own business. There's some help for you when you lose a job, not much, but working for a local authority, get them to do the legwork for you. If libraries are closing, it doesn't mean the demand for books is failing, so what's happening to all the books? Can you get hold of them? Would the Council set you up sub-contracting you to do your old job freelance? If you're sympathetic to their problems, you never know... Even a couple of months is a start... Even think about a career change, even a trade if you fancy. Yes, 48 isn't young, but go for it. This country has been churning out talentless imbeciles for years and calling them tradesmen because they managed to turn up at college most of the time. They're useless. Trust me, a motivated 48 year old is much more employable than some idle frogspawn who doesn't want to be there. You're not alone at that age either, there are rafts of squaddies leaving the army/navy/police in their 30/40s and all booted out looking for new careers. If you think about it, many of their prospects are a bit grimmer than yours. Get out there, be positiive and enthusiastic and opportunities will find you. Do you actually like whatever it is you do? Take the opportunity to sit yourself down, and ask yourself how rewarding it's actually been, and whether there may be something else you actually want to do, put some structure into your plans and start working your way towards doing it. Looking for a job is a grind, but less of a grind if it's a job you actually want to do. There are lots of crafts out there, stained glass is easy to pick up, then there's wood, metal, stone, clay.... sky is the limit. Hmmm, pilots license.. Life on the dole will eat away your soul if you let it, because you wait forever for somebody to help you. Unfortunately it's bad news because there's nobody on their way to do that, and the quicker you wise up to that the better. The best person to help you is you, and it's vital to get things started before the money and choices you can make get tight. For the next month, set your 'activity' threshold onto overload, and don't be idle until you get something happening for you. I don't know about your personal circumstances, but if there's a risk of losing your home, car or even the phone, get them working for you now while you have them to control. Better three weeks of stress than three years of it. Above all else, stay positive and motivated. It's not the end of the world.

Now how and why have I never heard of that? Great heads up UKW. I know about loads of German aces, who didn't seem to actually do very much remarkable, but I've never heard of Frank McNamara VC. Hermann Goering comes Nazi Reichmarschall and I could tell you all about him, but yet I never even knew about Frank McNamara, who went on to work with the National Coal Board. As you say, it's boys own stuff, right down to dropping 'modified' howitzer shells because there weren't any bombs left. You couldn't make it up.... :clapping:

Looks superb Hellshade. Have to be there to get lucky. Not only that, I bet such 'lucky' kills really did happen. I actually got a very similar kill, when I turned and dived through a flight of He111s. Closed very, very fast from a long way up, only time for 1 shot, but I brought down a Heinkel without even taking a hit myself. Came screaming in, BAM!, dived clean away with the target spiralng out of formation in flames. It all looked clinically excellent, but it was a pure fluke. I also had it all caught on Fraps, but it was early days and I didn't record the sound. I didn't deliberately delete it, but being silent, I put it in the wrong place for storage and it got removed when housekeeping. In fact it might be on my old pc still... hmmm. Another big factor in my success was flying the AVH Yak 7 or 9 (I forget) - the one with bloody great cannon in the nose. One clout from that and you're in trouble whatever you're flying. The luck is in the hit, but with that cannon the subsequent 'kill' is almost inevitable.

I find it just a little ironic that the trusty old BBC is suddenly whiter than white, fighting nasty corruption which stifles the 'nations' interests. This will be the same BBC which arbitrarily excuded Scotlands elected government from three pre-election leadership debates aired throughout Scotland just days before a general election? Sell out your integrity BBC, and you are nothing. (Sorry if that touches on politics admin, but neutrally so I hope. My point is the hypocracy and power of the media - and their hidden agendas).

Professional sport is all about money. The 'national' aspect of international sport is just a veneer to appeal to the largest possible fan base. Even setting aside BBC Panarama's own goal about corruption, FIFA knows the English fans are a captive audience and will still watch the 2018 world cup, only now a massive population of Russians will watch it too. And Qatar? Well, look at F1 motorsport, and see what part of the world is building all the new circuits. Ask yourself why it's happening there, and not back here. It's got nothing whatsoever to do with motorsport. It's all about corporate business and new opportunities. Scotland has an International Rugby league team, but to my knowledge, there are no rugby league teams anywhere in Scotland. Nobody here even plays rugby league so how and why have we got a national team? Let me guess, they're all ex-pats from down under padding out some tournament with a 'scottish' presence. Who actually cares that half of them couldn't pronounce Kirkcudbright or name four cities in Scotland? Does it matter? Don't get me started on pro rugby union, and all the ringers who can play for Scotland because their great granny once owned a woolly jersey that had 'Made in Scotland' on the lable. Strikes me in modern professional sport there is very little decided on principle. Does it matter at the end of the day? It's just entertainment. If you want to enjoy it, just keep cheering when you're supposed to and don't look at it any deeper than that. Am I being too cynical?

Foot and a half snow here, and -14 degrees at midday the day before last. They say if it wasn't for the Atlantic Drift, then Scotland's ports would be ice-bound in winter. Story seems to be the same for the start of this winter and the end of last years. Our current weather is the tail end of an Arctic weather system coming down from the Scandanavia, with the more normal warm currents from the altlantic not having much impact so far. It's like a watered down version of the movie "The Day After Tomorrow". Hopefully, not permanent. For once I agree with the TV. It isn't the actual severity of the UK weather, it's the unpredictability of it. It's not the 18" of snow that the pain in the arse, but it's the fact it's here in November. I had jobs scheduled to do in the weeks leading up to Christmas, I had every confidence they would be done by now, and the invoices would be paid in time for Christmas. That's not going to happen now, and it's a d!*$m nuisance. Christmas won't be much fun, and if things don't improve, it could be a very long winter. There's no point labouring the issue, because there's nothing to be done about it. I can live with a minor frost if I'm careful and protect my work, but -14 degrees is just no good at all.

Thanks for that Creaghorn, I didn't know about that, but I still feel the same, and as far as I know SPR was based on four civil war deaths, and the story was 100% fictional. That's today's new thing learned! Even having read these further accounts, it seems the last surviving kin are withdrawn from places of hazard and given safer deployments. That's quite different from sending a fighting patrol through occupied and hostile territory to save someones life. By all means send communications to recall him from the front, I'm sure that could and would happen, but put other men's lives at risk to do it? Even without a radio, why a whole patrol, not a runner? - Military doctrine for centuries. I reckon that's pure Hollywood. Not only is SPR fictional, I don't think it ever would happen. For one thing, imagine the guilt added to grief of the mother, if even more lives were lost just to save her last son? I don't want to open a big argument about it, but why couldn't Speilberg just find a true story to tell us? Not enough to pick from? Band of Brothers was great because it came straight from the mouths of veterans who were there. That to my mind gives Band of Brothers a level of integrity which SPR just hasn't got. SPR isn't true, nor is it even a dramatisation of a true story, nor is it an amalgamation of condensed events. It's make believe, with a realistic enough backdrop to imply it is a true story. Take away the outstanding lifelike action and special effects, and nobody would remember SPR above any other fictional and 'make believe' war film. Look at the 633 squadron films. Why make a fictional film featuring a casual mission to bomb a prison to free the prisoners, when there was a real and successful mission to actually do it? Why not make a film about that? Is a plane clattering a rooftop with it's tail wheel not dramatic enough? I'd love to see a film dramatisation of the real activities of 2nd TAF Mosquitos. The real plot and drama, and tragedy too, would leave 633 squadron absolutely breathless, but until it's made, all I have as cinematic tribute to the real crews is the beautiful footage of real mosquitos blighted by some banal claptrap added for the benefit of the box office. Hate to say it, but SPR and 633 squadron would (and do) share the same 'fiction' drawer. (And as for U-571, well it has it's own space on the shelf - still in the video shop).

Saving Private Ryan is pure fiction, it never happened, not under different names, not on a different beach, and it was only inspired by a war memorial to four brothers all killed in the American Civil War, - and the saving of any of them didn't happen then either. It just strikes me there were enough better, and true life stories of heroism going on throughout D-Day and beyond to have formed a better basis as a tribute to the veterans who were there. I fail to see the reason to make something up unless pure entertainment was the sole object of making the film. If that's the case, I think the vets deserve something better. And besides, is a mother losing four sons any harder to bear than a mother losing her only son? - But then you couldn't have the heroic line that Ryan's Para brethren are the only brothers he's got left. To my mind, if thats not cheesy, then it's on the border. Band of Brothers made the same point, but put it a whole lot better.

Even bad films have good moments. I shouldn't really say bad films, but films that perhaps don't engage you end to end. I didn't really enjoy the Red Baron, but the dogfight, when the Flying Circus decended on the British Bombers had a certain feel about it. It got the 'WOW!' factor just about right. Got a similar feeling watching Band of Brothers, when the C47's came through cloud and the ack-ack and tracer filled the sky. Having stood in such a doorway myself, (though never in action just training, and never under fire), it was quite a striking few seconds of footage. I was once first man out a Herc, and as such stood in the doorway for quite a few minutes before the green for 'go'. It was about 3 or 4 am as I remember, but light enough to see absolutely everything about 1000ft below. More than 20 years ago, but I'll never forget it, and that was just a quiet training jump. I reckon if you'd seen all that tracer and artillery coming up at you for real, even for a few seconds, I guarantee the images would be etched into the back of your skull and something you'd never, ever, forget. I also liked the grim realism of Passchendaele. Didn't care for the love story much, but I respect the Canadian perspective of a Canadian film, but the actual fighting looked grimly accurate as a representation of somewhere you'd never want to be. It's a little, little, bit like Private Ryan. I don't quite 'get it' why films about Passchendaele and D-Day, two massive events in history, still need to carry a cheesey sub-plot. Given the choice, I'd watch the Longest Day, complete with it's dated special effects over SPR every time. - But maybe that's just me. I like to learn stuff, not just be entertained. Favourite Book? Tough. Easiest to read and most rewarding is Max Arthur's Forgotten Voices of the Great War. Brief interviews of the people who were there. It's like a picture painting a thousand words in reverse - It's a thousand voices painting one picture.

This isn't just a CTRL+SHIFT+L thing is it? (Toggles labels on and off).

11th of the 11th gentlemen, not that any of you needed reminding. Couldn't tell you why, but it all seems so poignant this year. It might be the spate of veterans we've recently lost, or maybe that the economy is a little more bleak. I know from my own perspective that no matter how trying or difficult it is to keep my business going, I remain truly thankful that I'm not stuck waist high in mud and rancid ice cold water, missing my mates who were blown to smithereens, waiting for the whistle to go before running towards a lethal line of machineguns. I'm 44, and had more than twice the lifetime that some of those boys gave for their country. God rest their blessed souls.

I like that Typhoon. I like it a lot in fact. And as for us westerners being civilised about going to war these days, I'm not so sure that's not just a pleasant veneer. Scratch the surface, and the warrior awakes in all of us. Think of Sarajevo. Chosen city for the Winter Olympics 1984, but under bitter siege from heavy artillery from 1992 to 95 in a civil war riddled with division, ethnic cleansing and war crimes. I understand the city is almost entirely rebuilt, but the point to remember is war is a conflagration started by a spark. Sarajevo was a modern educated city, not unlike any other in Europe. So was Nanking in the 30's. It's a very dangerous mindset to have, thinking 'it can't happen here'. Look at 9-11, - it can. I don't think we've all found our faith in peace, it's more that we've gotten so good at war we scare ourselves into being responsible with the power of it.

Favorite way to evade a superior enemy? Easy. Just agree with everything she says, and never forget her birthday.

Sorry if this has already been flagged up - (Been busy, & bit out of date about threads). BBC1 9pm tonight. "The First World War Fom Above". Quote - Fergal Keane examines a cache of recently discovered aerial footage and photographs of the conflict. A 48-minute film taken by a French airship in the summer of 1919, following the route of the Western Front, reveals the devastating impact of the war on the land, while a collection of 150,000 photos taken by First World War pilots, intended to provide commanders with a revolutionary view of the battlefield, tells a series of human stories that were visible only from above