Chilcott's Immutable Law of Booking Hotel Rooms

When booking a room through a site such as LateRooms or Hotels.com, one will always be booked in a room that is furthest from any human contact eg reception, bars and restaurants.

The Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red

Tower Poppy buyers - when yours arrives, it seems that you will receive the petals only with no stem or centerpiece. These can easily be added and adapted to suit ones own needs. There are already people saying this is 'ridiculous' or 'bad drills'. Am I so terribly out of step with the rest of the world that I don't see it as an issue and that we take should take comfort in the fact that a lot of money has been raised for charity and that, for a short time, people were involved in a unique event either by actively installing or uninstalling, or donating.

I Think Of That Grey Wall

I don’t care about religion

The Sin Bosun's just white noise

He drones a while, and then a pause

And soon we hear the boom.

Pipe the Still.

And I start to think….

I look around those there

There are one or two from then

They slowly age, and their numbers thin

And we will thin, will age like them

I think of him down South

With the Guards, the heat, the noise

His wounds were deep, no marks were seen

30 years and blackness took him

I think of the sandbox

The screen, Op Minimise

A half-built airport that would quieten

For a Lockheed and its passenger

I think of podviniki

Of their treacherous end

Some unnamed thugs, a syringe on screen

A widow’s fading cry

I think of that grey wall

I think of that long grey wall

So many written there, husbands, brothers, sons

Thousands more on walls elsewhere

I think of…..

Carry on.

And so that's it

Off we troop inside

And line up for our glass

All smiles and cheer for one more year

And memories.

I Think Of That Grey Wall

I don’t care for religion

The padre is just white noise

He drones a while, and then a pause

And soon we hear the boom.

Pipe the Still.

And I start to think….

I look around those there

There are one or two from then

They slowly age, and their numbers thin

And we will thin, will age like them

I think of him down South

With the Guards in the heat and noise

His wounds were deep, unmarking, not seen

30 years on, blackness took him

I think of the sandbox

Of the screen and Op Minimise

A half-built airport becoming still,

Of a Lockheed and it’s only passenger

I think of podviniki

Of their treacherous end

Some thugs, a nurse a syringe on screen

And a widow’s fading cry

I think of that grey wall

I think of that long grey wall

So many written there, husbands, brothers, sons

Thousands more on walls elsewhere

I think of…..

Carry on.

And so thats it

Off we troop inside

All line up for our glass

And all smiles and cheer for one more year

And memories.

A Letter From America*

An American friend proposed the following:

I think that this Britain First movement in the UK is the tip of the ice berg in Western Europe. Just to crystal ball gaze. I believe that the combination of leftist government and the explosion of Mideast immigrants could spark a rather nasty European First neo nationalist movement. Like you, I am a Submarine Docent. I have talked to many young European visitors and many of them talk just like American Tea Partyers, with a continental twist. What do you think!"

 In response, I wrote:

I'm not sure the leaning of the government is particularly relevant. The nasty people have been around for a long time and BF is just a new manifestation having evolved through the Black shirts, the National Front, and the British National Party. Similarly. the US has it's neo-Nazis, the KKK, white supremacists and others although given the right conditions anything can happen

 It's all the more terrifying when one is sat in the middle seeing the extremes of both sides; knowing that one side is causing alienation of a lot of good people by its horrific actions and words, and for those actions and words to be portrayed as representative. The other extreme are hoodwinking a lot of good people with lies, by being disingenuous and by capitalising on the the deeds of the other extreme. And we are almost powerless to do anything about that other than to try and show the fallaciousness of both sides words.

But then,

"He that complies against his will is of his own opinion still."<sup>1


1</sup> http://www.bartleby.com/100/168.html

*Please, read his biography and listen to some of Alistair Cooke's broadcasts that spanned the decades.

Letter From America on the BBC iPlayer

Letter from America on Wikipedia

Robin Williams

It's astonishing to see the response to Robin Williams' death; much greater than that of anybody else's I've seen on social media. And yet there will be hardly anyone I know who will have met him. It just goes to show the huge effect that humour can have on us as individuals. Not only was he a really fun but he could mask a political comment with his humour and make it cut like a knife. I'm grateful for the huge raft of material he's left for us.

Remembrance Without Religion

Up until last year, there was a rather simple Remembrance Parade held at the Royal Navy Submarine Museum in November. People would gather, old submariners would fall in, Laurence Binyon's words would be spoken the Still would be piped, silence observed, wreaths laid and then a Tot taken, Last year a vicar came in and led the service. For me the simplicity and elegance disappeared with the imposition of the religious ritual and the, for me, meaningless biblical words and prayers and this became just another remembrance service.

I suspect many will be used to the religious service  and be happy to continue with the familiar format. I wonder if there are others out there, though, who would appreciate a secular gathering, one where people might have their own thoughts and be able to remember those 5300 and others without religious overtones.

If there are, please get in touch.